Hours after an 8-year-old was killed and eight other students were injured when their private van was hit by a tempo, parents of the injured children alleged they were forced to hire the private van because Rosary Senior Secondary School does not provide buses.
The accident happened in north Delhi’s Timarpur on Tuesday afternoon. The injured children were taken to Sushruta Trauma Centre here.
A. Mishra, the father of Class III Nivedita Mishra, said he had no other option but to send his daughter in the private van because the school has repeatedly refused to provide buses to students in the area.
Nivedita sustained a fracture in the right arm and multiple bruises in the incident.
Stating that over 60 kids in Wazirpur village go to the same school, Mr. Mishra said seven to eight private vans have taken “control” of transportation to school.
“We have requested the authorities at Rosary Senior Secondary School to provide a bus so many times. We have told them that there are many students from the area and that they should provide a bus but all our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. We have also written several letters to the school authorities in connection with our demand over the last few years,” Mr. Mishra alleged.
The school could not be reached for a comment.
To a question on whether he felt it was safe to send Nivedita in a van ferrying over 10 children, Mr. Mishra added, “It did not feel unsafe till now because about 10 children below the age of 15 years can fit inside the vehicle comfortably. But after Tuesday’s accident, I am not sure what we will do from now on.”
Seven-year-old Sarthak Giri, a student of Class II, sustained severe injuries on the head and received 11 stitches. His parents agreed with Mr. Mishra’s concerns over the lack of a school bus to ferry the kids.
The accused driver of the mini tempo, identified as Salman (21), has been arrested on charges of rash driving, causing hurt by act endangering life and causing death by negligence, a senior police said.