Mexico: Parents live a nightmare after their children's kindergarten won the lottery
Parents in Mexico are fleeing their homes as they are threatened by a gang after their children's kindergarten won a large sum of money in a lottery.
Parents in southern Mexico claim to be threatened by a gang after their children's kindergarten won 20 million pesos (about 845,000 euros) in a lottery in 2020.
The kindergarten, located in the Ocosingo area , has 25 students and their parents were responsible for managing the amount.
Shortly after the victory was announced, the parents received threats from a gang, which demanded that they be given the money to buy weapons for the gang. The families claim they had to leave their village to be saved.
Gang violence is rampant in Mexico, and armed groups often try to recruit locals to take control of the territory.
While the lottery was a cause for celebration in the beginning, the problems started immediately after the news spread.
Members of the parents' association say they have started receiving threats from an armed group called "Los Petules", which demanded that the money be used to buy weapons for the gang, which - according to the BBC - was planning to attack an opponent group in a neighboring village.
The parents refused and instead spent part of the money to build a new home for the kindergarten. Threats have increased this year, with parents using the rest of the money for village improvement projects.
Last March, a father was shot by gang members who asked him to hand over the cash prize. Last month, the situation escalated further when the gang allegedly attacked women and children in the village, causing 28 families to flee.
A spokesman for the families said the school had alerted local authorities to the threats, however, as long as the gang was not arrested, they were forced to stay away from the village and their homes.
