Parents in Hanoi are reeling from the heartbreaking death of a primary school student who was left on a school bus for an extended period of time.
A first-grader at Gateway International School in Cau Giay District known by the name Long died after spending more than six hours on a school bus, local authorities confirmed in a press conference on August 7.
According to Deputy Chief of Cau Giay Police Department Tran Van Hoa, on the morning of August 6, bus driver Doan Quy Phien drove the vehicle from its parking facility at the Academy of Journalism and Communication to pick up Nguyen Bich Quy, the bus attendant, and 13 students, including Long. The bus arrived at school at 7:25am. Phien then drove the bus to the academy parking lot, left and returned to Gateway at 4:20pm, when Quy discovered Long lying on the bus floor unconscious.
Long was brought to E Hospital in the same district, but according to Le Ngoc Thanh, the hospital’s director, Long had died before being admitted. An autopsy was conducted to determine the exact time of death, but police didn’t give the reason why Long passed away. This was only his second day in first grade.
A report by the Cau Giay Office of Education said that Long sat in the last row of the bus. When it arrived, two students experiencing their first day were crying, so Quy escorted them to the school's cafeteria without checking if any students remained on the bus. When taking morning attendance, Nguyen Thi Thuy, Long's homeroom teacher, marked him “not present.” However, the school did not contact his parents about their son’s absence.
During the press conference, the police announced a criminal investigation into the incident, with possible manslaughter charges for those culpable.
While the exact cause of death is still unconfirmed, many netizens point to heatstroke and lack of oxygen as possible factors. Last week, a father in New York was charged with manslaughter after leaving two toddlers, who died of heatstroke, locked in a car while he worked a full shift.
[Photo via 24h]
