Syrian toddler clings to life after suffering burns from fire at refugee camp

Dalal's condition is stable despite serious burns and damage to her lungs

Syrian refugees walk through a camp for displaced muddied by recent rains near the village of Kafr Aruq , in Idlib province, Syria. AP

An 18-month-old girl has been undergoing intensive medical treatment for severe burns in southern Turkey, after a fire ravaged her family’s tent at a Syrian refugee camp.

Doctors told British broadcaster Sky News that at first they thought there was little chance of Dalal surviving due to the seriousness of her injuries, as almost her entire body appeared burnt.

But despite major burns on her face and scalp, badly damaged lungs and amputated fingers, she is alive.

Dr Bahar Aydinli, director of Mersin City Hospital, said that in spite of the progress, there was a “very very long way” to go.

Dr Aydinli showed Dalal’s parents their daughter in hospital over a video call, almost fully wrapped in bandages.

They were relieved to see Dalal moving.

According to Sky News, the toddler’s family ended up at the Idlib camp after moving several times due to fighting in the Middle Eastern country.

Like many others, they had been using a stove to heat their flimsy tent when a fire broke out, Sky News reported.

Rescuers worked to save the children at the camp including Dalal who survived, but her older sister Yasmeen didn’t make it.

Dalal was then rushed to Mersin City Hospital in Turkey for treatment.

A recent UN statement said that at least 121,000 people in 304 sites in Syria’s north west were badly affected when torrential rain and strong winds damaged or destroyed at least 21,700 tents.

The harsh weather conditions add to an already disastrous humanitarian situation with the spread of the coronavirus and a worsening economic crisis.

The rebel-held Idlib province and western parts of Aleppo last year witnessed a crushing Russian-backed government offensive that displaced hundreds of thousands and damaged dozens of clinics and hospitals.