A health authority has relocated an orphaned Syrian infant who was born under the debris of her destroyed home following last week's earthquake to a "safe location.".
According to a source who spoke to the BBC, the Afrin Health Directorate took this preventative action to safeguard the girl, Aya, from potential kidnapping and adoption fraud.
She was being treated at the hospital in the opposition-held area when there was a violent incident there on Monday.
The manager was allegedly assaulted by a male nurse and two armed men.
Dr. Ahmad Hajj Hassan, the director of health, refuted social media claims that Aya's kidnapping attempt had failed.
The accusations of kidnapping were incorrect. It had nothing to do with the baby and was entirely an internal hospital issue, he told the BBC.
After the baby's story was widely covered by local and international media last week, thousands of people offered to adopt her.
However, the source claims that the health directorate is adamant about putting her welfare first and moving cautiously forward with the adoption procedure.
The 7:8 magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey on February 6 destroyed their family home in the town of Jindayris, and soon after, Aya's mother gave birth.
She passed away soon after giving birth to Aya, who was still attached by her umbilical cord when rescuers discovered her.
Dramatic video that was posted on social media showed a man carrying the baby after she had been rescued from the rubble.
The disaster also claimed the lives of Aya's father, four siblings, and an aunt.
A distant relative who was present when she was pulled to safety, Khalil al-Suwadi, brought the infant to the hospital in Afrin.
Last Thursday, the pediatrician who is treating her said to the BBC that Aya had arrived in "a bad state.". He continued, "She was cold, had bumps and bruises, and was hardly breathing.".
Her condition stabilized the following day after she responded to treatment.
The manager of the hospital said his wife was nursing Aya alongside their own four-month-old daughter and that they would take care of her until she was adopted.
One of the hardest hit towns in Syria was Jindaryis, located about 8 km (5 mi) from the Turkish border. There have been 200 total building collapses.
517 bodies have reportedly been pulled from the rubble in areas controlled by the opposition, according to the White Helmets, a group of volunteer first responders.
The deaths account for nearly a quarter of the total number of fatalities that have been reported by the White Helmets and opposition authorities in the region, where 90% of the 4 point 6 million people living there required humanitarian aid even before the disaster.
