Idlib, northwest Syria – On the high of a inexperienced hill separating the Syria-Turkey border from the small village of al-Allani within the northern countryside of Idlib, Ibrahim al-Aswad stands considering rubble {that a} 12 months in the past was a two-storey dwelling.
“We had been 15 individuals and solely six of us survived,” Ibrahim nonetheless remembers the primary seconds of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck – adopted by a second, almost as sturdy – southern Turkey and northwestern Syria at 4:17am on February 6, 2023.
He was woken up by the sound of his mom shouting from downstairs, telling him to go away the home. Confused, he felt round looking for his thick glasses so he may see his approach.
That delay was the explanation he survived. He was unable to cross the brink of his room earlier than the home collapsed on everybody inside it.
“I misplaced my father, my mom, two of my brothers, my sister, her three kids, and my daughter Ghazal,” Ibrahim informed Al Jazeera.
He almost misplaced his youngest son Hussein, too, he says, till the household canine Tiki helped rescue him 4 days after the quake.
The empty grave
Ibrahim was the primary to be pulled out of underneath the rubble by villagers who had gathered to rescue whoever they may whereas connections had been out and rescue and ambulance groups had not arrived but.
The extent of the destruction the earthquake brought on to the roads throughout the area meant that civil defence groups had a tough time reaching distant villages.
Added to that was the failure of rescue aid to enter the northwest within the first days of the earthquake, leaving villagers alone and chargeable for looking and rescuing and transporting the lifeless, wounded and injured.
Ibrahim, who’s in his 30s, was wounded in his toes and head however remained standing, attempting to maneuver the heavy stones off his household together with the rescuers.
He reached his son and spouse, then discovered his seven-year-old daughter, Ghazal, lifeless.
The villagers stored working to search out everybody who was underneath the rubble, and after an extended day, 9 new graves had been dug within the cemetery subsequent to the home. Eight of them had been stuffed and the final lay empty.
“I ready that grave for my father, Hussein, and for my son, whom I named after him and whom he liked very a lot,” Ibrahim mentioned.
![Ibrahim crouching at the side of a grave](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ibrahim-takes-care-of-the-graves-of-the-nine-members-of-his-family-who-died-in-the-earthquake-removing-weeds-and-watering-the-flowers-and-plants-he-placed-around-them.3-1707477022.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
“I mentioned I might bury my son in his grandfather’s arms.”
However the rescuers didn’t discover grandfather and grandson, and after discovering the our bodies of everybody who was downstairs, they’d no hope that both of them had survived.
On the second day, the villagers continued looking, gathered to console Ibrahim and tried to assist the survivors.
The household’s canine Tiki stood close to the rubble, barking continuous and attempting to draw the neighbours’ consideration to 1 spot again and again.
At first, they thought she was barking due to the aftershocks that had already begun however, ultimately, Tiki’s insistent barking and makes an attempt to dig in a single spot prompted a neighbour to alert Ibrahim and focus their work there on the fourth day.
They anticipated that Tiki was attempting to information them to the our bodies of the grandfather and grandson however to their shock, younger Hussein was alive within the arms of his grandfather, who died defending him.
Ghazal
With all of the loss Ibrahim suffered, one of many issues he most wished to recuperate from underneath the rubble was a pair of gold earrings he had purchased as a present for little Ghazal.
![Ibrahim's hands holding his glasses](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ibrahim-believes-that-his-search-for-his-thick-glasses-before-escaping-during-the-earthquake-was-the-reason-for-his-survival-after-all-the-family-members-who-gathered-down-stairs-died-while-trying-to-escape.jpeg-1707476957.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
“She died earlier than I may give them to her,” Ibrahim mentioned, holding again tears as he defined how he had needed to promote Ghazal’s earrings some time in the past to boost some cash, and the way indignant she had been with him.
“She died earlier than she may forgive me.”
After Ibrahim’s accidents had been healed, he returned to work as a day labourer, attempting to adapt to his new life, and to a brand new routine.
Each morning, he visits his household’s graves, tells them the whole lot that occurred the day earlier than, waters the flowers he planted close to them, and reads from the Quran.
The sensation of loss continues to be the identical for Ibrahim, and Ghazal, particularly, nonetheless accompanies his ideas.
“I bear in mind her each minute and second … I bear in mind her giggle, her stroll, and her actions.”
Ibrahim wished to go away the village the place he misplaced the whole lot, however the graves of his family members prevented him.
![Hussein stands smiling in a blue plaid shirt](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Hussein-6-years-old-spent-four-days-under-the-rubble-in-the-arms-of-his-grandfather-who-died-while-hugging-him-to-protect-him-from-the-rubble.2-1707476946.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
“I can’t depart my household behind.”
Right this moment, Ibrahim resides together with his spouse and two kids, six-year-old Hussein and four-year-old Mahmoud, and his two youthful brothers. Those that are nonetheless alive give him the motivation to proceed attempting to recuperate psychologically regardless of his deep unhappiness.
“I’m afraid of shedding any of them… If one in every of them will get sick, I can’t eat or drink till they recuperate,” Ibrahim mentioned.
The results of the shock are nonetheless evident on Ibrahim and his household, who can not reside inside a concrete dwelling for worry of the aftershocks.
Standing in entrance of the rubble of the house, which lay unchanged for a 12 months, Ibrahim mentioned his household had been martyrs and subsequently he was in a position to settle for what occurred to them.
“Many consoled me, and their phrases introduced reassurance to my coronary heart. They informed me a hadith in regards to the Prophet Muhammad who mentioned that the one killed within the ruins is a martyr.
“That is what provides me endurance.”
![Ibrahim holds phone with photo of Ghazal](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ibrahim-lost-many-members-of-his-family-during-the-earthquake-but-losing-his-7-year-old-daughter-Ghazal-was-the-hardest-for-him-1707476966.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)