Stranded in school after losing way home

Dubai: Pupils at a private school, some as young as five, were left stranded for several hours on Sunday, after a mix-up over the location of their homes.

According to the deputy director of Dubai's Choueifat School, the confusion arose after maps to the students' homes failed to appear in the system, leaving hundreds of students without a means of transportation home.

With their children having left the campus on buses at around 3.30pm, several distraught parents arrived at the school at 7pm last night to finally be reunited with their children.

Lack of organisation

After fighting through traffic Ahmad Al Hashimi finally reached his five-year-old son at the school at 7.30pm. Worried parents hugged their children and expressed anger at not being able to get through to the school for several hours.

Officials said that all of the school lines were busy, as worried parents tried to call in. Dubai Police were called to the scene after receiving complaints from two sets of parents, and attributed the situation to "negligence" on the part of the school.

The deputy director of Choueifat Dubai told Gulf News the recently-hired bus company was responsible for the confusion. "The bus company is responsible for this situation, and we are going to be taking measures," he said.