This baby was found under the rubble of a deadly Syrian earthquake. Six months later, she's thriving

A baby girl who was born under the rubble of her family home destroyed by the deadly earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria six months ago is in good health, loves her adopted family and likes to smile even to strangers.

The dark-haired baby Afraa survived 10 hours under the rubble after the Feb. 6 earthquake crushedto death her parents and four siblings in the northern Syrian town of Jinderis. When she was found, her umbilical cord was still connected to her mother.

Her story captivated the world at the time, and people from all over the world offered to adopt her.

After spending days at a hospital in north Syria, Afraa was releasedto the custody of her paternal aunt and her husband, who adopted her and are raising her along with their five daughters and two sons.

Afraa was handed over to her aunt's family days after a DNA test was conducted to make sure the girl and her aunt are biologically related, according toher adopted father, Khalil al-Sawadi.

'This girl is my daughter'

On Saturday, baby Afraa was enjoying herself, swinging on a red swing hanging from the ceiling while al-Sawadi pushed her back and forth.

"This girl is my daughter. She is exactly the same as my children," said al-Sawadi, sitting cross-legged with Afraa on his lap.

WATCH | Baby survives earthquake in Syria:

Baby born during earthquake in Syria in stable condition

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Duration 2:07

In Syria, a baby born during Monday's earthquake miraculously survived after being pulled from the rubble. It was a moment of hope in the battered country where the ongoing civil war is making relief efforts difficult.

Al-Sawadi said he spends the day at an apartment he rented, but the family goes to a tent settlement to spend the night, as his children are still traumatized by the earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

According to the UNOffice for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 4,500 deaths and 10,400 injuries were reported in northwest Syria due to the earthquakes. It estimated that 43 per cent of the injured are women and girls, while 20 per cent of the injured are children aged five to 14 years old.

The devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the early hours of Feb. 6, followed by multiple aftershocks. Among the hardest hit areas was rebel-held northwestern Syria, which ishome to some 4.5 million people, many of whom have been displaced by the country's 12-year conflict that has killed half a million.

When Afraa grows up, Al-Sawadi says, he will tell her the story of how she was rescued and how her parents and siblings were killed in the devastating earthquake.

Baby named after late mother

A day after the baby arrived at the hospital, officials there named her Aya Arabic for "a sign from God." After her aunt's family adopted her, she was given a new name, Afraa, after her late mother.

Days after Afraa was born, her adopted mother gave birth to a daughter, Attaa. Since then she has been breast-feeding both babies, al-Sawadi said.

"Afraa drinks milk and sleeps most of the day," hesaid.

Al-Sawadi said he has received several offers to live abroad, but he'srefused them because he wants to stay in Syria, where Afraa's parents lived.

Afraa's biological father, Abdullah Turki Mleihan, was originally from Khsham, a village in eastern Deir el-Zour province, but left in 2014 after the Islamic State group captured the village, according to Saleh al-Badran, an uncle of Afraa's father.

"We are very happy with her, because she reminds us of her parents and siblings," al-Sawadi said. "She looks very much like her father and her sister, Nawara."