Narrow Escape For Second Girl Abandoned On School Bus
Just over six months since the tragic death of Nizaha Aalaa, a four year old girl left locked on an unsupervised bus in Abu Dhabi, the Khaleej Times has reported one little girl's very lucky escape from yet another abandoned school bus, this time in Ajman.
According to the newspaper, the un-named six year old girl fell asleep on her journey to school. Staff failed to notice the sleeping child and drove the bus to a parking area in the industrial zone. At around 10am a passer-by noticed the child crying and alerted the police.
Ajman police say they found the child, "sweating, hungry and crying," and immediately rushed her to hospital. Once reassured by medics that the child had not sustained any injuries, she then returned home to her mother.
The bus driver and school management were reportedly then questioned regarding the incident. During which, the driver and supervisor admitted they had neither searched the bus nor checked names on the list.
The paper went on to note that according to the traffic law, the driver of any bus must double check the bus after every trip.
The police have since referred the driver to public prosecution for negligence and exposing life of a child to danger.
The incident comes after the tragic death of Nizaha Aalaa, a KG-1 pupil at Al Worood Academy Private School, who died on 7th October 2014, after she was locked on a school bus in Abu Dhabi.
In February 2015, the Abu Dhabi Court of Misdemeanours sentenced the supervisor, bus driver and attendant of Al Worood Academy Private School to three years in jail and 20,000 AED fine each for negligence leading to Nizaha's death.
In addition, the court ordered the school to shut down permanently and fined it a total of 150,000 AED, while the school transport owner was sentenced to six months in jail and fined 500,000 AED. The defendants were also ordered to pay blood money.
In response to Nizaha's death, authorities in Abu Dhabi drafted in new regulations to improve safety for all children travelling on school buses. These include: mandatory seat belts, driver health fees and CCTV installation. To read more on the new Abu Dhabi regulations go here
