Sham Sheikh Mohammed, a 9-year-old girl Syrian girl rescued 40 hours after the deadly disaster that hit southern Türkiye and northwest Syria, arrived in Türkiye for treatment Thursday.
Local officials told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Mohammed, who may have to have her legs amputated, and her brother Omar, 15, crossed from opposition-held northwest Syria at the Bab al-Hawa border post.
They are the first of those rescued from the rubble of the Feb. 6 quake to be allowed to enter Türkiye for treatment from opposition-held areas.
The 7.7-magnitude quake killed nearly 46,000 people across Türkiye and parts of Syria.
Video footage of Mohammed being rescued went viral, and the White Helmets rescue group operating in opposition-held areas called on social media for prayers that she might be spared amputation.
Like other survivors, Mohammed is suffering from what doctors call crush syndrome.
This occurs in limbs that were starved of blood circulation for too long and starts with severe pain in the affected extremity, which can still look healthy in the early stages.
Mohammed's father and brother also survived, but her mother and sister were killed when the family's building collapsed in Armanaz's northwestern province of Idlib.
On Thursday, an AFP correspondent saw two ambulances from Türkiye arrive at the Bab al-Hawa, crossing to pick up the two children, accompanied by their father and aunt.
Mohammed was celebrated for her courage after humming a tune along with her White Helmets rescuers, who worked for six hours to free her from the concrete.
"Sham is in a critical condition," her father Mohammed told AFP, adding that Omar also suffered leg injuries.
Shadi Haj Hussein, an official from the health department in opposition-held Idlib, told AFP that her condition "requires specialized treatment that is not available" in the region.
An Assad regime official in Damascus said on Thursday that the government had "assured the transfer" of six other young Syrian survivors of the quake to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for treatment. They are also suffering from crush syndrome.
