Video shows dramatic moment men rescue baby buried under pile of dirt and rubble after airstrike in Syria

Associated Press | January 31, 2014 | Last Updated: Jan 31 12:07 PM ET
More from Associated Press

Nur Media CenterMen dig 14-month-old Ghina Khalil out of rubble in Aleppo, Syria. The toddler was pulled out after men pulled aside rocks, concrete rubble and dust to free her, caught under a smashed building, bombed by the government forces in the area of Masaraniyeh in Aleppo.

Fourteen-month-old Ghina Khalil is recovering with her family in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo after being buried in rubble.

The stunning rescue, caught on video, corresponds to Associated Press reporting of events.

The footage shows a group of men frantically digging in the dusty rubble of her home after an alleged airstrike on Jan. 22.

Amid cries of “God is greatest,” the toddler’s curly-haired head can be seen emerging from the dust, as the men scoop away handfuls of crumbled concrete with their bare hands. With her arms freed, the girl reaches up to wipe her eyes in a sign of life.

According to the activist who filmed the video, uploaded to the internet by the Nour Media Centre, the girl was completely buried for at least three minutes and her mother was killed in the attack. A video taken later showed Khalil in new clothes, with no visible injuries.

The Syrian government has been accused of using airstrikes and rocket attacks indiscriminately against residential areas.

AP Photo/Nur Media CenterMen dig 14-month-old Ghina Khalil out of rubble in Aleppo, Syria.

AP Photo/Nur Media CenterA man holds 14-month-old Ghina Khalil after they dig her out

of rubble in Aleppo, Syria.

AP Photo/Nur Media CenterFourteen-month-old Ghina Khalil stands on a street after she

was rescued from rubble in Aleppo, Syria. The toddler was pulled out after men pulled

aside rocks, concrete rubble and dust to free her, caught under a smashed building, bombed

by the government forces in the area of Masaraniyeh in Aleppo on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, after more than a week of negotiations aimed at ending its civil war, Syria’s government refused Friday to commit to a date for the next round of peace talks and roundly dismissed the opposition’s demand to transfer power away from President Bashar Assad.

The standoff over what comes after Assad — and the uncertainty over U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi’s proposed Feb. 10 date for a second round of peace talks — underscored the tremendous challenges in finding a way out of Syria’s deadly impasse.

Related

• Shocking before-and-after photos show how Syrian government ‘wiped entire neighbourhoods off the map’
• Syria’s ‘dialogue of the deaf’: Assad regime clashes with opposition leaders at UN peace talks in Geneva
• Stephen Harper visits Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, commits $150 million in aid
• Syrian rebel infighting so deadly even Al-Qaeda leader is calling for a truce
• Syria’s Assad regime accused of torture and executions on ‘an industrial scale’ as ‘smoking gun’ photos point to atrocities

The two sides continue to blame each other for the violence in Syria — where a three-year civil war has killed more than 130,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes. They also remain deeply divided over how to end the war and if Syria’s future government should include Assad.

A tally by activists estimated Friday that 1,900 people — including at least 430 civilians — were killed in Syria during the peace talks alone.

Brahimi said the opposition has committed to joining a second round of talks in Geneva on Feb. 10.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, however, said before the government decides when to return to Geneva to meet again with the opposition, Assad will hear a report on what took place during the past week in Switzerland. The minister also dismissed the opposition’s demand for a new governing body to eventually transfer power from Assad.