A health official has relocated an orphaned Syrian infant who was born during last week’s earthquake under the debris of her destroyed home to a “safe location.”
According to a source who spoke to the BBC, the Afrin Health Directorate took the precautionary move to safeguard the girl, Aya, from probable kidnapping and adoption fraud.
She was receiving medical care at a hospital in the area controlled by the opposition when there was a violent incident there on Monday.
The manager allegedly received physical abuse from a male nurse and two armed guys.
Dr. Ahmad Hajj Hassan, the director of the health department, refuted statements made on social media that Aya’s kidnapping attempt had failed.
Following extensive coverage of her story in local and international media last week, thousands of people expressed interest in adopting the infant.
According to the source, the health directorate is committed to putting her health first and proceed cautiously with the adoption process.
Aya’s mother gave birth not long after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked southern Turkey on February 6 damaged their family home in the town of Jindayris.
She gave birth to Aya, who was still attached by her umbilical cord when rescuers discovered her. She later passed away.
A guy was seen holding the baby, who was covered in dust, in an emotional video that was posted on social media.
Aya’s father, four siblings, and an aunt perished in the catastrophe as well.
The infant was delivered to the hospital in Afrin by Khalil al-Suwadi, a distant relative who was present when she was rescued to safety.
Aya arrived in “a bad state,” according to Dr. Hani Marouf, the pediatrician who is treating her, who also spoke to the BBC last Thursday. “She was cold and hardly breathing; she had bruises and bump,” he added.
She responded favorably to the medication, and the next day her condition had stabilized.
Aya is being breastfed by hospital’s manager, Khalid Attiah’s wife alongside their own four-month-old baby. He has also promised to take care of her until she’s adopted.
One of the worst damaged towns in Syria was Jindaryis, located around 8 kilometers (5 mi) from the Turkish border. There have been 200 total building collapses.
517 bodies have reportedly been retrieved from the wreckage in regions controlled by the resistance, according to the White Helmets, a group of volunteer first responders.
In a territory where 90% of the 4.6 million residents required humanitarian aid even before the crisis, the dead constitute roughly a fourth of the number reported by the White Helmets and opposition officials.
