A 6-year-old pupil of a private school suffocated inside a school bus after he was abandoned inside while he dozed off.
Abdul Malak Al Awadh’s colleagues failed to wake him when they arrived their school in city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The driver took the bus to the parking lot and left it there until the end of the school day. By the time he returned later to pick up students, the boy was already suffocated to death.
Abdul Malak’s father and uncle said that the school was responsible for his tragic death.
Abdul’s uncle Yahya Al Awadh, said: “My nephew did not suffer from any ailment or health issue when he got on the bus with his classmates to go to school.
“When he was late to come home at the end of the school day, his father became worried and tried to contact the school, but no one answered him. He later received a phone call from the school administration informing him that his son was sick. He went there with his wife and both had the shock of their lives when they heard that their only son was dead. They felt devastated.”
The uncle said the family was puzzled over the absence of a chaperone to accompany the young students on the bus to and from school. He said the family was also shocked that the school had failed to contact them to ask about the reason their son did not attend classes that day.
The head of the education district in Jeddah Province Abdullah Al Thaqafi, ordered an immediate investigation of the incident. The police launched their own probe into the tragedy.
A security source said: “Investigators are questioning all parties following the medical report that determined the causes of death.”
