CNN
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A baby girl has been reportedly rescued from the rubble of her home in northern Syria after Monday’s devastating earthquake.
Her umbilical cord was still attached to her mother when she was found, relatives told Agence France Press.
“We heard voices when we were digging,” cousin Khalil Al-Swadi told AFP on Tuesday. “We cleaned up the dust and found the baby with her umbilical cord still in it so we cut it off and my cousin took her to the hospital.”
Survivors are still being rescued from the rubble in Syria and Turkey after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit early Monday morning local time.
Freezing conditions, blocked roads, damaged infrastructure and several severe aftershocks have complicated the rescue effort.
The rescued newborn is currently being treated at a children’s hospital in the town of Afrin.
Suwadi said she is believed to be the sole survivor of her immediate family. They lived in a five-story apartment building that had collapsed in an earthquake.
At least 2,500 people are known to have died in Syria. The sudden destruction has compounded the trauma and hardships of families still affected by a decade-long civil war.
About four million people in northern Syria have already been displaced as a result of the war and are dependent on humanitarian assistance, according to UNICEF spokesman James Elder. This winter was particularly severe with cold waves and cholera epidemics.
Hospitals across the country are overwhelmed as victims seek help, with some facilities damaged by the quake. The spread of the disease is of particular concern, especially among children.