9-year-old UP girl falls from school bus, crushed under tyre

AGRA: A 9-year-old girl died after a school bus jolted while crossing a speed breaker, causing her to fall from the vehicle and come under its rear wheel on Naya Bans–Bihari Pur Road in the Etmadpur area of Agra around 3pm on Wednesday. Police have initiated action against the driver and school authorities.Naina, a Class 1 student of RBS School in Bhagupur and daughter of Brahmjeet of Nagla Lale village, was returning home with her elder sister Pari, a Class 5 student of the same school. Family members said the sisters had left for school together in the morning and boarded the same bus after classes ended.According to police, the bus jerked sharply while crossing the speed breaker and the child slipped from her seat before falling out of the vehicle. She was crushed under the rear wheel and suffered severe injuries. She was taken to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared her dead.Naina's family alleged the bus was in poor condition and that students were made to sit on wooden planks instead of proper seats. Her grandfather, Devendra Singh, said precious time was lost before she was taken for treatment. "Instead of rushing Naina to the hospital immediately, the driver first dropped the other children," he said. "After parking the bus at the school, he later took her to the hospital on a motorcycle."Her father, Brahmjeet, said the family struggled to contact the driver after the children did not return home on time. "Our children usually reach home by about 2.30pm. When they did not arrive, I tried calling the bus driver, Narendra Kumar, but he did not answer. We kept trying for nearly an hour," he said. He added, "We had raised concerns about the condition of the bus earlier. Sometimes the school sent a car for a day or two, but then the same bus would be used again. If the school charges bus fees, it must also ensure the safety of children."Police registered a case under BNS section 106 (causing death by negligence) against the driver, who fled after the incident, and seized the bus. Etmadpur SHO Alok Kumar Singh said preliminary investigation indicated that a wooden plank had been fitted on the bus floor. "The plank came off and the child slipped through the gap," he said, adding that the vehicle was old and did not have a valid permit. He said a case had been registered against both the driver and the school operator.District inspector of schools Chandrashekhar said the school's recognition for Classes 1 to 10 had been withdrawn following the incident. The incident comes less than two weeks after a similar accident in Kasganj on March 1, when a UKG student died after falling through a damaged section of a school bus floor and being run over by the vehicle.