Survival Inspires Boy’s Name
When the earthquake struck in the remote village of Jabala, Manzoor Ahmed Mir’s house collapsed around his wife and newborn son.
“I could hear my wife’s voice from below, calling out my name,” he said.
The 35-year-old farmer ran for help, collecting other residents of the mountain village in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir. The group dug with their bare hands for 18 hours, finally pulling Mir’s wife, Amina, and their child from the rubble.
“Both the mother and child are healthy,” Indian army Dr. Rahul Kodgule said at a makeshift hospital in Uri, about 45 miles west of Srinagar, the regional summer capital.
The ordeal provided a name for the boy.
“It’s a blessing from Allah that they are alive. He brought the earthquake with him, so I have named him Abid Zalzala,” Mir said.
Zalzala means “earthquake” in Urdu.
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