Three get 125-year prison term for Syrian Alan Kurdi's death in 2015

File photo (Reuters)

Three people have been held for human trafficking and sentenced to 125 years behind prison by a Turkish court over the death of a Syrian toddler, Alan Kurdi, according to Turkey's state news agency Anadolu. The 3-year-old Kurdi washed up on a beach in Bodrum, in Turkey's Aegean Mugla province, in 2015.

The accused were sentenced at the Bodrum High Criminal Court in Mugla, Turkey for the crime of "killing with eventual intent."

The death of the toddler came to limelight when the heart-breaking pictures of Kurdi lying with his face down on sea beach went viral. The images went viral on social media platforms with the Turkish hashtag "KiyiyaVuraninsanlik" which means "humanity washed ashore."

Twelve refugees drowned that day during a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, including the toddler's 5-year-old brother, Galip, and their mother, Rehen. The incident symbolized the plight of desperate Syrian refugees.

Abdullah, Kurdi's father was reportedly the only survivor from their immediate family who took their bodies back to Kobani in Syria for burial.

According to the state news agency, the traffickers, fugitives from justice, were captured by Turkish security forces last week in the southern province of Adana.

They were on the run after fleeing during their trial. Many other Turkish and Syrian defendants have also received jail sentences following Kurdi's death.

The humanitarian crisis still continues as more than 6.7 million Syrians have fled war-torn Syria since 2011, according to the United Nations.