Dominican Republic: Child hanging from migration enforcement truck sparks outrage

Shocking footage of a young child hanging from the arms of a detained woman through the barred door of a truck in the Dominican Republic has generated outrage in the country.

Social media videos of the incident, which occurred Saturday in the municipality of Santo Domingo, showed the child dangling off the back of a moving immigration control truck used by local authorities to transport detainees.

The child only appears to be kept from falling by a woman inside the vehicle, whose arms stretch through the bars of the door.

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An immigration agent sitting on the back platform of the truck, next to the child, seems to be speaking as he extends a hand and rests it on the child's shoulder.

In a statement, the country's migration director Venancio Alcántara described the incident as "a disturbing and heartbreaking incident."

The migration agency said Monday that the agent seen sitting in the back of the truck has been fired, noting that he had only been in his job for 20 days.

The woman, a Haitian national, was released after the agents became aware of the situation, it also said.