54 Days Separated After the Turkey Earthquake, Mother and Baby Are Reunited: Had a DNA Test

An earthquake in Turkey. (Wikimedia Commons/European Commission/Barbaros Kayan)

JAKARTA - A mother has been successfully reunited with her baby in southern Turkey after DNA tests confirmed it was her daughter, nearly two months after a devastating earthquake rocked the region, the country's ministry of families said.

The three-and-a-half-month-old "miracle baby" named Vetin, was pulled out of the rubble of a building in Hatay province, more than five days after the earthquake on February 6 without any health problems, the ministry said.

After initially being treated at a hospital in Adana, the baby was taken on a presidential plane to be treated by the authorities in Ankara.

A DNA test revealed that Yasemin was the mother and the baby was flown back to Adana, where a meeting took place at the hospital that treated him.

Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanik handed over the baby directly to his mother, Yasemin Begdas, at a hospital in Adana City, 54 days after the disaster.

"Reuniting a mother and her child is one of the most rewarding tasks in the world," said Minister Derya Yanik, quoted by Reuters on April 5.

However, the ministry said the baby's father and two brothers died in the earthquake.

It is known that more than 56.000 people were killed by the earthquake on February 6 and its aftershocks, with 50.000 people in Turkey and the rest in Syria.