Nasser al-Waka’a was grieved by the death of his wife and most of his children, who were killed in the earthquake that destroyed their house, last Monday, in the Jenderes area, northwestern Syria.
According to ‘Sky News Arabia’, rescuers managed to remove two of his children from under the rubble of the house during the night, and video footage showed the two children bruised and covered in dust, and another child survived, but his wife and at least 5 of his children died, reports Al-Rai daily.
Al-Waka a sat amid the rubble and concrete blocks, mourning his wife and the rest of his children, embracing the clothes of one of the deceased, and began muttering the names of his children, male and female, without mentioning their exact number in a state of despair and confusion.
Al-Waka’a said: “The house shook. We are used to this. We are used to hitting by the plane, we are used to being hit by a missile, a barrel dropping on you. We are used to it. But an earthquake means, this is God’s command.”
After the earthquake, Al-Waka’a asked for help to save his children, and learned that his sons Faisal and Mohsen had died. The bodies of the eldest daughter, Hiba, and her younger sister, Israa, were found.
Heba was dead, and her little sister was also dead in her lap. The body of another sister, Samiha, was found near them.
Al-Waka’a carried with him a scrap of paper that his eldest daughter Hiba had written in her own handwriting in a notebook that was found buried under the rubble.
In elegant handwriting, Hiba wrote, “Oh God, I entrust you with the most precious thing I have, so keep it for me. You are in God’s protection and in my heart, Abu Faisal (her father’s nickname).”