(CMR) Gunmen reportedly stormed a Syrian hospital caring for a miracle baby who was found buried under concrete and still connected by the umbilical cord to its dead mother after an earthquake earlier this month.
Officials denied that the attack on the hospital was an attempt to kidnap the child named Aya, Arabic for “a sign from God”.
The armed gang reportedly beat the clinic's director, who had fired a nurse after it was suspected she was planning to kidnap the child. The nurse was seen taking pictures of the newborn baby and was kicked out of the hospital.
The nurse returned later with gunmen who beat up the director. The director's wife has been breastfeeding Aya, who has been at the hospital since February 6, hours after the earthquake hit Turkey and Syria.
Rescue workers discovered the baby girl more than 10 hours after the quake as they were digging through the wreckage of the five-story apartment building where her parents lived. Both her parents and four siblings were killed in the quake.
Her miraculous birth and survival is followed by people across the world. Several people have reportedly gone to the hospital, falsely claiming to be Aya's relatives, prompting local police to guard her.
Over 41,000 people have been confirmed dead following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which rattled Syria and Turkey on February 6. Rescue workers continued to pull survivors from the rubble days after the quake.
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