(MENAFN - Arab News) A bus driver transporting girl students at the college of education in Bisha caused outrage among parents when he left 10 of them stranded at a mosque along the road between Bisha and Khamis Mushayt.
They entered the mosque to pray Fajr before proceeding to their college. The driver, however, drove away despite the remaining passengers pleading with him to stop, reported local daily Al-Watan.
It was not revealed when the incident took place and the driver was not named.
According to the daily, the incident took place in an area named Atfat Al-Hanafahis 25 km away from Khaibar center where the girls lived.
The girls said they usually perform Fajr prayer at a mosque called Muajab along the road on their way to college. They said when they came out of the mosque, they saw the bus driving away.
"We shouted at the driver to stop but he did not heed," one of them said. She said they were left all alone in front of the mosque after other worshippers had left.
"We stayed in the remote place for more than 10 minutes. We were terrified. Luckily, another bus came from Khaibar and the driver took us in," she said.
Another girl said she was worried about her university identification card, which was in a purse she left behind in the first bus.
"We had an examination the same day and we would not be allowed to enter the university without showing the card," she said.
Faisal Al-Johani, a father of one of the students left behind, said he was sick of the driver's conduct and his behavior toward the students.
"Though the driver is working for a transport company and paid a monthly salary, he will only take with him those girls who pay him SR200 every month," he said.
Al-Johani said when a rumor circulated that the transport company would not hand over the buses to its drivers on time when the schools reopened after the spring vacation, the driver asked every girl to pay him SR700, or else he would not take them.
"When the buses were given to the drivers, he refused to return the money to a number of parents who had already made the payment," he said.
Al-Johani said he filed a complaint with the transport company's office in Bisha but the office rejected it and asked him instead to complain to the college authorities.
