Sharjah: A six-year-old Emirati boy who was crushed to death by a school bus was waiting for a friend after school, Gulf News has learnt. 

The boy identified as M.A.A, a Grade 1 student of Al Ghafyah school, had returned early to his house on Thursday and went to the location in the same neighbourhood where his friend was about to disembark from a school bus.

“Grade 1 finished their school day early on Thursday,” the victim’s brother, 18, said.

He said it will be difficult for the family to bear the loss of the boy.

“Undoubtedly the loss of my brother is one of the greatest calamities for us but this was a test from almighty Allah. May Allah bless the soul of my beloved brother and send him to paradise,” the brother said.

According to the preliminary police investigation, the young boy was waiting for his friends bus in the same neighbourhood of Umm Khanoor in Sharjah when the accident took place.

Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Bin Darwesh, Head of Patrols and Traffic Department at Sharjah Police, told Gulf News that the boy was killed instantly.“The boy came under the wheels of the bus, which belongs to one of the private schools in the emirate, and died on the spot” he said.

Residents of that area saw the accident and they tried to alert the driver of the school bus but in vain.

“People shouted and waived to alert the driver to avoid the accident, but it did not work,” said the victim’s brother.

Bin Darwesh said the bus ran over the boy while the driver was reversing to leave the area. 

The driver realised that he committed an accident when he heard screaming and shouting from outside. He then stopped the bus and exited to investigate what happened.

“The boy came under the wheels of the bus with a capacity of 24 students and belongs to one of a private schools in the emirate and he died on the spot,” said Bin Darwesh.

The bus driver immediately rushed the boy to Kuwaiti hospital to no avail as the boy could not be revived.

A police patrol, ambulance and a public prosecutor reached the spot after receiving a call from police at Al Kuwaiti hospital.

The driver was taken into police custody.

Al Heira Police have launched an investigation into the incident, Bin Darwesh said.

Police say this is the first school-bus accident of 2013 and that in 2012 there were no school bus accidents in Sharjah. 

Bin Darwesh issued a call to parents to not allow their children to play outside alone without adult supervision as an extra safety precaution.

Funeral prayers on the boy were held in Al Sahaba Mosque in Sharjah after Mugrab (sunset) prayer.