A six-year-old boy was rescued alive from the rubble in a town in northwestern Syria on Friday, five days after the deadly earthquake, an AFP journalist noted.
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Moussa Hmeidi, in shock and with a bruised face, was pulled from the rubble in Jandairis village by local rescuers, cheered by residents.
Rescuers are still searching for members of his family, who are likely buried under the rubble. His brother’s body had previously been removed lifeless.
The little boy thus lasted past the 72-hour mark, which experts believed was crucial to finding survivors under the rubble.
Rescuers administered first aid to him at the scene, wrapping a bandage around his head and placing a bandage around his hand.
“Moussa was rescued on the fifth day and he has superficial injuries. His brother was pulled out dead and the rest of his family is still under the rubble, we don’t know about them,” Abu Bakr Mohammad, a resident who took part in the rescue operation, told AFP.
Jandairis, which is under rebel control and borders Turkey where the earthquake’s epicenter is located, was devastated by the earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey at dawn on Monday.
On Tuesday, rescuers discovered in the rubble of a building in the area a live baby who was born under the rubble and is still connected to his deceased mother by the umbilical cord.
The powerful dawn earthquake on Monday killed more than 22,300 people in Turkey and Syria in one of the worst disasters in the region in a century.
According to a preliminary report, there have been at least 3,377 casualties in Syria, including at least 2,030 dead in rebel-held areas.
Three children were rescued in Turkey on Friday, but hope of finding more survivors dwindles as the crucial 72-hour window approaches.
More than 90% of earthquake survivors are rescued within three days of the disaster. However, this duration can vary greatly depending on weather conditions, frequency of aftershocks and speed of rescue.