Social media users in Indonesia have raised over $2,600 for a 94-year-old street vendor who was robbed of his savings on Sumatra Island.
A video circulated on Twitter and Instagram recently showing the banana seller, Suratman, visibly shaking and later slumping to the ground after a group of three people stole 1.1 million rupiah ($82) in cash from him.
Suratman said in the video that the robbers pretended to buy a bunch of bananas and when he approached the car, they emptied his pocket and sped off.
Suratman said he had saved the money to buy furniture to welcome the Eid al-Fitr festival, which falls on June 25.
After the video went viral, citizens offered to donate money, and a bank employee volunteered to set up a savings account for him.
“Donations began pouring in after the account was created, reaching about 32 million rupiah as of yesterday,” Amedio Pradipta, a Twitter user who helped coordinate the fundraising campaign, said.
A volunteer took Suratman to a furniture store, where he bought a set of sofas using the donated money.
“The governor of Jambi province, where Suratman lives, donated five million rupiah and bought all of his goods,” local media reported.
