The nine-year-old Syrian girl who is facing the risk of having both her legs amputated after spending 40 hours under the rubble was taken to Turkey Thursday for treatment.

Local officials told AFP that Sham Sheikh Mohammed and her brother Omar were the first to be given authorisation to enter Turkey for treatment from those who rescued following the deadly quake that hit on Feb. 6 .

The 7.8-magnitude quake killed nearly 46,000 people across Turkey and parts of Syria.

Like other survivors, Sham is suffering from what doctors call crush syndrome.

This occurs in limbs that were starved of blood circulation for too long and starts with a severe pain in the affected extremity, which can still look healthy in the early stages.

Sham's mother and sister were killed when the family's building collapsed in the town of Armanaz, in the northwestern province of Idlib. Her father and a brother also survived.

Thursday, an AFP correspondent saw two ambulances from Turkey arrive at the Bab al-Hawa crossing to pick up the two children, who were accompanied by their father and aunt.

"Sham is in a critical condition," her father Mohammed told AFP, adding that Omar was also suffering from leg injuries.