There have been two children rescue from the rubble of their home in northern Syria, more than 36 hours after Monday’s quake trapped their family as they slept, CNN reported. They had been wedged between concrete in the remains of their home.
“Please get me out of here, I will do anything for you,” the older child whispers to the rescuers who are seen squatting in the rubble of the children’s home in Besnaya-Bseineh, a small village in Haram, Syria.
She adds, “I will be your servant,” as the rescuer replies, “no, no, no.”.
Mariam is the name of the girl, and she is gently brushing her younger sibling’s hair as they lie squeezed together in what might be the remains of what was once their bed as they lie squashed together. It is only with a little movement of her arm that she is able to cover the face of her younger sibling and provide some protection against the dust.
It was mentioned in the report that the younger child’s name is Ilaaf, a name that means protection according to the family’s father, according to the report.
In the early morning hours of Monday, Mustafa Zuhir Al-Sayed said he was sleeping with his wife and three children when the earth shook with a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, which was the largest to strike the region in more than a century of records.
The ground began to shake, and rubble began to fall over our heads. We stayed under the rubble for two days before we were able to escape.” he added. It was a feeling that we went through, a feeling that I hope no one else has to experience in their lives.”
As his family was pinned under rubble, Al-Sayed said reciting the Quran out loud and praying to God for help was something his family could do.
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It was through the hearing of people that we were rescued – I, my wife and our children. The report quoted him as saying, “I thank God that we are alive, and we thank the people who saved us,” he was cited as saying in the publication.
A video showed locals cheering as Mariam and Ilaaf were carried out of the rubble wrapped in blankets as they were cheered on by locals. In order to provide them with medical care, the children have been taken to a hospital for treatment.
Idlib governorate is one of the rebel-controlled areas in the northern part of Syria and is home to the Al-Sayeds. A humanitarian aid group more commonly known as the “White Helmets” has reported that at least 1,280 people have died in the rebel-controlled territory, according to Syrian Civil Defence, which is a group that provides humanitarian assistance.
The group said on Tuesday the number of dead and injured is “expected to rise significantly due to the presence of hundreds of families under the rubble.”
At least 1,250 deaths have been confirmed in government-controlled parts of Syria, state-run news agency SANA reported, taking the total Syrian toll beyond 2,500.
The total number of dead from the quake across the Turkiye-Syrian border is now more than 11,000 – a number that aid agencies have warned is likely to rise significantly.
Aid is slowly reaching those in need, but even before the quake, the United Nations said 70% of Syria’s population needed humanitarian assistance.