(Idlib) Rescue workers in rebel areas in Syria on Friday called on the international community to save those seriously injured in the earthquake, the day after the death of a three-year-old boy suffering from “underground syndrome”.
Arslan Berri, who had had his lower limbs crushed under the rubble, died Thursday evening from his injuries in a hospital in northwestern Syria, his uncle Ezzat Hamidi told AFP.
The little boy suffered from traumatic rhabdomyolysis, or “burial syndrome”, which can lead to the amputation of a limb, damage to the kidneys or cause cardiac complications.
In a statement to AFP, the leader of the White Helmets, Raed Saleh, called on “the international community to save the children and other wounded suffering from the syndrome of the buried”.
He asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “to intervene urgently”.
“Hundreds of earthquake survivors are suffering from this syndrome, which requires advanced care,” he added.
He explained that the hospitals in the rebel areas, which lack equipment and whose medical profession is “exhausted”, cannot provide this care.
PHOTO OMAR HAJ KADOUR, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Arslan Berri
Arslan Berri was the only survivor of his building in the locality of Harim, hard hit by the February 6 earthquake which killed nearly 46,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
His parents, his brother and his sister had been killed in the collapse of their building.
The White Helmets had found his lifeless father hugging him for protection and holding his other two children by the hand.
He died “of sepsis and internal organ failure”, according to a doctor at the Idlib hospital where he was, Muhib Kaddour.
“We did everything we could, but his injuries were fatal,” he added.
PHOTO OMAR HAJ KADOUR, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Sham Sheikh Mohammed was transferred to Turkey on Thursday.
Another nine-year-old Syrian girl, Cham, who has the same syndrome and is at risk of having her legs amputated for being stuck for 40 hours under the rubble, was flown to Turkey on Thursday for treatment.