A newborn was rescued from the rubble of an earthquake in Syria

Jindires, Syria – Residents of a town in northwestern Syria have discovered a crying baby whose mother appears to have given birth to him as he was buried under the rubble of a five-story apartment building that was destroyed by week-long devastating earthquakerelatives and a doctor said Tuesday.

The newborn girl was found buried under the debris with her umbilical cord still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was found dead, they said. The child was the only member of her family to survive Monday’s building collapse in the town of Jinderis, near the Turkish border, a relative, Ramadan Sleiman, told The Associated Press.

Rescuers found the child on Monday afternoon, more than 10 hours after the earthquake. A neighbor cut the umbilical cord, and she and others rushed the child to a children’s hospital in the nearby city of Afrin, where it is in an incubator, said Dr. Hani Maarouf, who is treating the child.

The child’s temperature dropped to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and she had bruises, including a large one on her back, but was in stable condition, he said. Maarouf said he believed the baby was born about three hours before he was found, given how low her temperature had dropped.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake before dawn on Monday, followed by numerous aftershocks, caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The death toll has exceeded 5,000 people and continues to grow, finding new bodies.

Jinderis, which is in a rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria, was badly hit by the earthquake, with several buildings collapsing.

Another dramatic rescue took place in the city on Monday evening when a child was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building. Video from the White Helmets, the region’s emergency response service, shows a rescuer digging through concrete rubble amid twisted metal until a little girl named Nur emerges. The girl, still half buried, looks up in a daze when they tell her: “Daddy is here, don’t be afraid. … Talk to dad, talk.”

The rescuer put his hands around her head and gently wiped the dust from her eyes before she was pulled out.