Turkey's 'miracle baby' reunites with mother after quake

Turkey's miracle baby, who was rescued from rubble in Hatay province amid the catastrophic earthquake which shook Turkey and Syria in February, finally met her mother last week, Turkey’s Ministry of Family and Social Services said.

After being buried under the debris for 128 hours, baby Vetin Begdas was one of the lucky people who survived the deadly quake.

But the baby's rescue was not the only miracle witnessed in the wake of the tragedy, as she reunited with her mother Yasemin Begdas, who was earlier declared dead, Al Jazeera reported.

According to Anadolu Agency, the three-and-a-half-month-old baby was handed over to her mother on Saturday — 54 days after her rescue from a damaged building in Hatay.

The medical authorities who cared for the baby named her Gizem which translates to the mystery in Turkish.

Derya Yanik, the minister for family and social services, helped unite the mother-daughter duo after a DNA test proved their biological relationship.

“One of the most priceless tasks in the world is reuniting a mother with her child. Being a part of that happiness meant a lot to us as well," the minister said.

Updating her followers and the world about baby Vetin, the Turkish minister shared a video on Twitter showing their reunion. The mother, who is receiving treatment at a hospital in Adana, was seen hugging and cuddling her lost daughter.

To reunite their pair, Turkish authorities flew the three-month-old Vetin from Ankara where she was receiving treatment.

“Vetin is now our baby too,” Yanik tweeted and extended support to the baby for life.

“The baby is truly a miracle. The fact that she survived and had no health problems pulled at our heartstrings,” the minister said.

Vetin's discovery after spending weeks pressed under the rubble has been deemed a mystery and tugged at everyone's heartstrings. People were left surprised and happy to see her photos which went viral on social media, as rescue efforts continued across Turkey and Syria.

As per Turkish media, Vetin's father and two brothers were killed in the devastating quake that claimed the lives of over 50,000 people.

More than 44,000 people died as a result of the earthquake in Turkey alone, while 20 million people remain impacted by the natural catastrophe to date, as reported by the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority.