Dubai: A pupil broke his leg after being hit by a pick-up truck shortly after he was allegedly dropped off at an unsafe spot by his school bus, Gulf News has learnt.
The incident took place about two weeks ago in Ajman.
Six-year-old Hamza Abdul Kalam's parents alleged that the school bus dropped him opposite their house, which lies across a busy two-way street. Hamza, a Bangladeshi grade one pupil, attends the Omar Bin Al Khattab Pakistani Islamia School.
The parents said the school bus driver allegedly stood by the bus and asked the boy to cross the street quickly. As the boy attempted to do so, he was hit by a pick-up truck.
However, the school claimed that the driver usually holds the child by the hand and helps him get across, and that on the day of the accident the boy left the driver's hand and ran on to the street which led to the accident.
"The bus stopped on the other side of the road and I got down with the driver. He stood on the side of the road and asked me to run quickly to get across. He kept saying run fast," Hamza said, narrating the incident.
He is now at home, after being hospitalised at the Shaikh Khalifa hospital for over ten days and undergoing a surgery.
"It still hurts a lot," said Hamza, who has been advised few weeks of rest by doctors.
"Thank God my son is still alive. It could have been much worse than this," the father Abdul Kalam Azad said, adding that the incident happened because the school bus kept dropping him off on the opposite side of the road, despite the family complaining several times.
"There is usually no attendant in the bus and no one escorts the children to the other side. When I told the school about the issue they dismissed it."
Earlier, the driver used to drop the child on the same side but since the classes began after summer holidays the driver began to drop the child on the opposite side to save few minutes from taking a U-turn, the father, who runs a tailoring shop, said.
"Schools need to be aware and treat children's safety as a priority," he said, urging parents to take up safety concerns without hesitation.
Responding to the allegations made by the parents, Lubna Taj, principal of the school said the school is in no way responsible for the incident because it happened outside their premises. She however admitted that there is no conductor in the bus.
