(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Lawyers of the school principal and the owner of the transport company denied the charges levelled against them and demanded their acquittal.
Abu Dhabi — The Abu Dhabi Misdemeanour Court will pronounce its verdict in the case of a four-year-old girl who died inside a school bus on February 8. The court heard the pleas of the defence lawyers of the five accused in the case on Sunday.
Lawyers of the employee in charge of students’ list the school principal and the owner of the transport company denied the charges levelled against them and demanded their acquittal.
The five accused and the victim’s father appeared in court for the hearing. The case dates back to October last year. The girl a KG1 student had died after she fell asleep inside the bus and was left unattended for several hours.
According to the forensic report the child died due to heat exhaustion and inability to breathe.
The public prosecutor accused the bus driver and bus attendant of causing the death of the child as they “failed to do their job properly”. The school employee tasked with checking the attendance of students was charged with negligence.
The school management and the school transport provider were charged with endangering the lives of students since they allegedly deployed an unlicensed bus that did not fulfil school transportation safety requirements.
Additionally they “employed unqualified and unlicensed supervisors”. The owner of the transport company faced charges for having hired 10 bus attendants “who did not meet sponsorship transfer terms and conditions”.
The public prosecutor sought maximum punishment for the accused.