“Get me out of here, I’ll do anything for you,” the girl said to the rescuers.
Two children were rescued more than 36 hours after an earthquake trapped their family as they slept in the wreckage of their home in northern Syria. The older sibling, identified as Mariam, was seen protecting her sibling, stroking their hair as she said to the rescuers, “Get me out of here, I’ll do anything for you.”
“I’ll be your servant,” she adds, as a rescuer is heard replying, “No, no,” as they try to pull the two children out from the debris of their home in Besnaya-Bseineh, a small village in Haram, Syria, per CNN.
Rescuers have saved two children wedged underneath the rubble of their home in northern Syria, following the world's deadliest earthquake for more than a decade.https://t.co/8Jxlsnsvxv
— ITV News (@itvnews) February 8, 2023
Mariam could move her arm enough to shield her sibling's face from the rubble amid the debris. According to their father, the younger child's name is Ilaaf, which means "protection" in Arabic, per Independent.
The father, Mustafa Zuhir Al-Sayed, shared that his wife and three children were sleeping when the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck neighboring Turkey on Monday morning. Al-Sayed said his family recited the Quran and prayed aloud for help while trapped under the wreckage of their home. “We felt the ground shaking … and rubble began falling over our head, and we stayed two days under the rubble,” he said, adding, “We went through, a feeling, a feeling I hope no one has to feel.”
A Happy ending yall… the sisters have been rescued. 🙏 #Syria #Earthquake https://t.co/GX403BV7EH pic.twitter.com/yHs3deoOaX
— Abier (@abierkhatib) February 7, 2023
Locals can be seen celebrating as Mariam and Ilaaf are taken out of the rubble and covered in blankets. The children were transferred to the hospital, where they are being treated. “People heard us, and we were rescued – me, my wife, and the children. Thank God, we are all alive and we thank those who rescued us,” he said.
The hope of finding more families decreases with each hour amid frigid temperatures that have made survival difficult even for those who have managed to flee the crumbling structures. The Al-Sayeds live in Idlib governorate, a rebel-held region in northern Syria. According to the Syrian Civil Defense, a humanitarian relief group better known as the "White Helmets," at least 1,730 people have died in rebel-controlled territory. The group said Tuesday that the number of dead and injured is “expected to rise significantly due to the presence of hundreds of families under the rubble.”
Our teams were able to rescue Jana alive from under the rubble of her house in Jenderes, north of #Aleppo, today, Tuesday, February 7, but hundreds of children remain trapped under the rubble in need rescue. We are working against the clock to reach everyone. #Syria #Earthquake pic.twitter.com/lb8h8mEB1N
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) February 7, 2023
This is a developing story, and we’ll update you as we learn more. Information about the earthquake is swiftly changing, and WomenWorking is committed to providing the most recent and verified updates in our articles and reportage. However, considering the frequency of developments, some of the information/data in this article may have changed since the time of publication.
References:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-syria-earthquake-rescue-b2278201.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/07/middleeast/syria-quake-siblings-rescued-intl-hnk/index.html
Cover Image Source: YouTube | CNN
