A heart-wrenching video has shown that five kids, one of them disabled, were left in a parking lot of a prison when mother of the kids was detained as part of a post-coup crackdown in Turkey.
The 37-second video, posted by their brother, starts with the boy saying that they are outside the prison where their father was incarcerated in connection to the coup. He then opens the door of their car, where children — one of them with the Down syndrome — sit puzzled and bewildered.
The boy says in the footage that the five children were left behind when their mother was detained while meeting with their father.
The footage quickly went viral in Turkey. Mahmut Tanal, lawmaker with secular opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), denounced in a written statement the negligence of authorities in this incident.
A fundraising campaign was launched to help the kids left behind. At least $40,000 funds were raised for the kids in just 3 days.