“Endless admiration for this brave girl”: WHO chief on viral video of Syrian girl shielding brother under rubble

New Delhi: Heart-wrenching pictures and scenes are emerging from Turkey and its neighboring country Syria. The severe earthquake in both countries has left traces of devastation. The death toll from the earthquake has crossed 15,000 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a heart-wrenching video has surfaced on the Internet. In the video, a seven-year-old Syrian girl is seen cuddling her younger brother in the rubble. She is constantly making her brother feel safe despite being buried under the debris.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared the video on Twitter and wrote, “Endless praise for this brave girl.” They were buried under the debris for 17 hours and were safe. I don’t see anyone sharing the video. If she died, everyone would share it! Positivity.”
The Turkey-Syria border is one of the most active earthquake zones in the world. Monday’s earthquake was the largest seen in Turkey since 1939. In 1939, 33,000 people were killed in eastern Erzincan province. In 1999, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake killed more than 17,000 people.