School bus crushes 5-yr-old in Patiala while reversing after dropping him
PATIALA: A five-year-old kindergarten studenwt was run over by his school bus when the driver was reversing it after dropping him outside the school gates on Wednesday. While family of victim Prabhjot Singh, who died of injuries at a private hospital in the evening, sought a case against the school management and the bus driver, deputy commissioner Ramvir Singh marked a magisterial probe.
The police, meanwhile, were in the process of registering a case till the filing of this report at 10pm.
The incident happened at 9.15 am when the bus of SM International School, Friends Colony, near the Patiala-Rajpura road reached the school premises and children began disembarking. Prabhjot was behind the bus when the female attendant and the bus conductor were not paying attention. The bus crushed him as the driver could not spot him while reversing the vehicle.
The father, Iqbal Singh, a photographer residing in Rishi Colony, collapsed after the child’s death at the hospital around 4pm. The mother fell unconscious.
The DC said the incident showed schools were not serious about safety of students despite several advisories .“The magisterial probe will dig into the matter and we will ensure all possible action,” he said.
School director Gurpartap Singh Ahluwalia said it was indeed a shocking incident and added, “There was definitely negligence by the ground staff. We are with the parents and ready to take all corrective measures in view of this incident.”
But the family sought specific action against the school. Raj Kumar, who identified himself as a relative, demanded FIR against the school owner: “If that does not happen, we will hold protest.”
The child’s body was sent for post-mortem to Government Rajindra Hospital where the police recorded statements of the parents.