Five accused of causing Abu Dhabi school bus tragedy deny charges

The bus driver, supervisor, school receptionist and principal and the owner of the transport company appeared at the Court of Misdemeanours on charges of being responsible for the three-year-old Nizaha Aalaa's death.

ABU DHABI // Five people have denied responsibility for the death of a girl, 3, who was locked in a school bus.

Indian pupil Nizaha Aalaa died in the bus at Al Worood Academy Private School on October 7.

At the Court of Misdemeanours yesterday, the bus driver and supervisor, the school’s principal and receptionist, and the owner of the company that provided the bus all denied charges related to Nizaha’s death.

The Pakistani driver denied charges of responsibility for the little girl’s death through negligence.

He said his duty was only to take the pupils to school and home, and that he had been ordered not to make contact with the children.

The supervisor, a Filipina, also denied the same charge.

But prosecutors said she had told them that after the bus arrived at school, she walked only halfway down the aisle to check that all pupils had left.

The Lebanese school receptionist is also charged with negligence because prosecutors say she did not check the attendance list to see which pupils had arrived.

She denied the charges, saying this was not one of her duties.

The prosecution said she had admitted that it was her responsibility because she was substituting for a colleague on that day.

They said she told them that she forgot to check the records because she was busy with other assignments, and that there were many pupils absent that day because it was just after Eid Al Adha.

The school principal, a South African, confirmed the receptionist’s statement, saying the supervisor was culpable as it was her responsibility to count pupils on the bus by calling out their names.

The principal is charged with endangering the life of the pupils by hiring a transport company providing buses that did not meet school safety standards or have licences to carry pupils. He denied this, saying he did not hire the company.

Prosecutors said the principal had admitted that he knew the buses were not licensed for carrying schoolchildren, but the owner of the transport company told him that he had an exception from the Department of Transport.

The owner, a Pakistani, said the school checked the buses before using them and knew they were not licensed.

He was charged with endangering the pupils by using substandard buses and hiring an unlicensed driver.

The company owner, prosecutors said, had told them that although he did not have a licence from the Department of Transport, he equipped 20 of his buses to meet their standards.

But seven more were not equipped, including the one on which the little girl’s body was found. He said the school was aware of that.

He was also charged with recruiting supervisors whom he had not sponsored to work on the buses, but said they were appointed by the school.

The two defence lawyers requested an adjournment to copy and examine the case files.

The victim’s father was also in court but did not speak.

Afterwards, he said he was waiting for the court’s verdict before deciding whether to file a civil suit.

“I am not thinking of compensation now,” he said. “It is important they do not repeat this mistake with other families.”

The case was adjourned until November 19.