Dammam: Young Girl Dies After Hours in Scorching School Bus
News by P A Hameed Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network—Dammam (CN)
Dammam, Jun 13: Fidah Mohammed Haris, 5, a student of Dammam International Indian School, died in her school bus due to asphyxiation on Sunday June 13.
In May this year, a kindergarten pupil had died in a similar incident in Doha, Qatar. Fidah’s death is the fourth such in the GCC region in less than three years.
Fidah, daughter of Mohammad Haris, dressed in her school uniform, boarded her school bus cheerfully on Sunday morning. When the bus reached the school, all the students got off except her.
Since it was early morning on a hot day, Fidah had dozed off in the last seat and went unnoticed. As is his practice, the driver, closed the windows and doors of the bus without a second look inside and parked the vehicle in front of the school in.
The bus was parked in the scorching heat with not even the slightest bit of shade. When the driver returned at noon to take the children back home, he found the girl dead inside. The tearful teachers and students rushed to the van and then to hospital. The institution was engulfed in shock and sorrow as news of the death spread.
The body is in Astoon Hospital on the Dammam-Khobar highway, awaiting the completion of legal formalities. Ibrahim Kalkar Dammam and Anwar Sadath Suralpady, Jubail, conveyed this news to Daijiworld from the hospital.
Sources informed that Fidah will be buried in Dammam cemetery once the formalities are completed.
Fidah hails from Perunthalmanna of Malappuram district in Kerala. Her father works at a restaurant in Dammam. She was studying in UKG in the school. The school management and teachers have expressed their grief on the sad demise of the student.
It is common in the Kingdom to see students on school buses and other private vans. The parents entrust the care and safety of their wards to the drivers. It is the duty of the drivers to exercise care and caution when ferrying the children.
Since it is peak summer, they must ensure that the seats are not tightly packed and the air conditioning is working properly. They need to check the vehicles to ensure that all the children have alighted safely. Above all, it is the school management’s responsibility to issue strict guidelines to their drivers and see that these are complied with.