Over 200 players, who are representing India in School World Sports Championship in Turkey, are stranded after the Turkish military seized control in a coup.
As tensions set in, the Turkish government has asked everybody to stay indoors.
A group of five girls, who are among the people stranded in the coup, made a video from what looks like a room with a window. They are asking the Indian government to help the players reach home safely.
In a video shown by Puthiya Thalaimurai channel, a sportswoman stranded in Turkey says in Tamil: “The event was scheduled from July 11 -18. We left for Turkey from New Delhi on 11th. This morning we heard that there was bomb blast in Ankara. But there are no problems in Trabzon so far. There is no concrete information as to whether the sports event would resume. We are supposed to leave Trabzon on July 18. We’ll be going to Istanbul via Ankara. Our flight to Delhi is from Istanbul. I request the central government to help us reach safely.”
"The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu had started a WhatsApp group through which they are keeping us informed about what is happening. We have been told that the event has resumed and the children have started preparing for it. So far they have not told us how the students are going to return to India but the SDAT have promised to make some arrangement," said Vijay, relative of Thamizhselvi, who is one of the 10 students from Tamil Nadu in Turkey.
An army group on Friday said it took over the country. There were sounds of huge blasts, including one blast at the parliament complex in Ankara.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was flown in to Istanbul said that the government has taken control. He also said that the coup seems to have failed as citizens took to the streets overnight and confronted the troops attempting to take over the country.