‘Please God, Let One Survive’: Syrian Man As Earthquake Kills His 5 Kids

Wakaa had kept his family safe through years of war, bombings and air raids which now seem “normal” to him but said that the earthquake was an “act of God”

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Naser al-Wakaa prayed that at least one of his eight kids survive after the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country in the early hours of Monday. Wakaa had kept his family safe through years of war, bombings and air raids which now seem “normal” to him but said that the earthquake was an “act of God” he told news agency Reuters. 

Rescuers pulled out two of his children alive from the rubble at night. Another child also survived, but his wife and at least five other children were killed. 

"The house shook. We are used to airstrikes. We are used to rockets, to barrel bombs. This is normal to us. But an earthquake, it's an act of God," he said.

"I ran out of the house and said 'please God, let one survive. I just want one of my kids'," he said.

Wakaa sat amid the ruins of his home surrounded by broken concrete and twisted metal, grieving his loss as he held baby clothes tight to his face. In despair and confusion, he named his children - boys and girls - without saying how many he had, the report stated. 

After the earthquake, Wakaa had called for several of his sons only to learn that his two boys, Faisal and Mohsin, had both passed away. His eldest daughter Heba was also found dead along with her little sister Israa in her lap. 

Samiha, another sister, was also found dead nearby. 

At a cemetery, Wakaa watched in grief as gravediggers lowered the body of one of his children, shrouded in white, into a communal grave with other victims of the disaster.

The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria reached 23,831, reported CNN citing authorities. The death toll in Turkey rose to 20,318, with 80,052 reported injuries, according to the country's disaster agency while in Syria, the total number of those killed stood at 3,513, including 2,166 deaths in rebel-held areas in the northwest of the country. 

At least 1,347 people were killed in government-controlled regions of the country, reported SANA.