She’s a glimmer of hope in the horror. As the death toll from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria on Monday, February 6, continues to rise – more than 46,000 dead, according to Reuters and rising after another recent tremor – there is a “small miracle” currently circulating on social networks.
In Jindayris, a town in the province of Aleppo also devastated by the earthquake, a baby was found alive under the rubble. Already nicknamed “the miracle girl of Jindayris” – and given the name Aya, meaning “miracle” in Arabic – she’s the only survivor of her family. Her father, mother, three sisters, brother, and aunt all perished in the collapse of their four-story building.
“We were looking for Abu Roudayna (her father) and his family. We first found his sister, then his wife, then Abu Roudayna, who were grouped together near each other,” Khalil Sawadi, a family member, told AFP on Tuesday, February 7. “We heard a noise as we were digging (…) we cleared away and found this little one, God be praised.”