A baby boy being pulled from the rubble of the Nepal earthquake has become the defining image of a disaster that has devastated the country. His tiny face is coated in dust from the debris that crashed around him as the earth shook on Saturday, April 25. is name is Sonit Awal, and he’s just four months old. Sonit was at home in Muldhoka, Bhaktapur, east of the capital Kathmandu, when the 7.8-magnitude quake sent tremors through Nepal. The house collapsed, burying the child, leaving his father Shyam Awal frantically searching for him amid the rubble.
Awal called the Nepalese Army and they too scrambled through the dirt and debris until midnight, before giving up hope and leaving. Sonit’s father lost all hope of finding him, until he heard faint cries from below. On Sunday morning, the soldiers returned and at 10 A.M they lifted Sonit from under the fallen rocks, beams, bricks and dust that had trapped him for 22 hours. His rescuers held him high in their hands to the sun, though his eyes were still wedged tightly shut. The baby was taken to Bhaktapur Hospital and found to be uninjured.
By Premji
