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 “secure area.”
According to a source who spoke to the BBC, the Afrin Health Directorate took the precautionary move to safeguard the girl, Aya, from potential 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.
“The kidnap allegations were a misunderstanding. This was a wholly internal hospital-related issue and had no connection whatsoever with the baby,” he said.
Thousands of people offered to adopt the baby last week, after her story was widely reported by local and international media.
However, the health directorate is determined to prioritise her welfare and act cautiously with the adoption process, according to the source.
Aya’s mother went into labour soon after their family home in the town of Jindayris was destroyed by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey on 6 February.
She died after giving birth to Aya, who was still connected by her umbilical cord when she was found by rescuers.
Dramatic footage shared on social media showed a man carrying the baby, covered in dust, after she was pulled from debris.
Aya’s father, four siblings and an aunt were also killed in the disaster.
Khalil al-Suwadi, a distant relative who was there when she was pulled to safety, brought the baby to the hospital in Afrin.
The paediatrician looking after her told the BBC last Thursday that Aya had arrived in “a bad state”. “She had bumps, bruises, she was cold and barely breathing,” he added.
She responded to treatment and by the next day her condition had stabilised.
The hospital’s manager said his wife was breastfeeding Aya alongside their own four-month daughter and that they would care for her until she was adopted.
Jindaryis, about 8km (5 miles) from the Turkish border, was one of the worst-hit towns in Syria. Some 200 buildings there have completely collapsed.
The White Helmets, whose volunteer first responders have been leading the search and rescue effort in opposition-held areas, say 517 bodies have been pulled from the rubble there.
The deaths represent almost a quarter of the total reported by the White Helmets and opposition authorities across the region, where 90% of the 4.6 million population needed humanitarian assistance even before the disaster.
Source: BBC