UAE: 7-year-old boy suffocates to death in locked car in Sharjah
Child was left behind by a driver paid to take children to school in unlicensed service
Sharjah: A 7-year-old Bangladeshi boy suffocated to death after he was left behind in a locked car in Sharjah on Monday, police said on Tuesday.
Police said its operations room received a report on Monday afternoon stating that a child had died inside a car in Al Shahba area. The relevant teams moved to the location and investigated the circumstances of the incident.
It was found that the boy’s parent had contracted a female driver to transport his children to school. When they arrived at school, everyone got out of the car except the 7-year-old child. The driver had parked the vehicle next to the school and locked it without making sure it was empty. When she returned at the end of the school day, she found the child motionless inside the vehicle.
The child was admitted to Al Qasimi Hospital at 4.30pm on Monday.
Wasit Police Station is investigating the incident. Police said the driver was not arrested because of the boy’s father’s “concession and his unwillingness to accuse her [the driver] of causing his son’s death; she was only banned from travelling”.
In light of the incident, the Sharjah Police General Command warned parents of students of the danger of contracting drivers unlicensed to transport children to and from schools. This entails serious risk to the lives of the children, given such drivers’ ignorance of the safety procedures imposed by the competent authorities.
The Sharjah Police General Command called on parents to instead use school buses designated for transporting children, which are equipped with security and safety means, and are subject to continuous monitoring by the responsible authorities.