M'sian boy, 5, found dead near door of school van in JB, likely trying to get out but couldn’t

The father of a five-year-old Malaysian boy, who died after being left in a school van for over four hours in Johor Bahru, believed that his only child had attempted to escape the locked vehicle.

This was because the boy was found unconscious near the door of the locked school van, Malaysian media New Straits Times reported.

His 37-year-old father, Teo Jia, said: "I am very disappointed. The van driver should have properly checked and ensured that all the children had exited before locking the van or going home."

Teo Jia added that the kindergarten was also negligent and that they should have checked their attendance and verified a child's whereabouts if they were absent.

"Maybe he was trying to get out but couldn't"

Teo Jia, who works in Singapore, said the van driver had picked up his son, Yu Zie, from their house in Taman Bukit Indah at about 7:15am.

The school van would usually arrive at the kindergarten, which is about 2km away, around 8:15am.

Teo Jia said the driver would leave the van nearby after dropping off the children at the kindergarten. He would then head home by motorcycle.

"My son might have fallen asleep at that time, and the driver probably didn't notice him," Teo Jia said.

The 37-year-old said a teacher had called him around 1pm on the day of the incident, urging him and his wife to come to the hospital as their son was in a critical condition.

Teo Jia said that when he arrived at the hospital, his only child was "lying motionless, weak, and not breathing".

"The doctor said they had done everything they could to save him," Teo Jia said.

"We found out my son had died near the van door — maybe he was trying to get out but couldn't," he said.

Tragedy could have been avoided

According to Sin Chew, the cause of death was attributed to a suspected lack of oxygen.

Yu Zie's aunt, surnamed Zhang (transliteration), told Sin Chew that the kindergarten director said the incident was caused by the van driver's negligence as he did not notice the boy was still sleeping in the school bus.

When asked why the school did not inform the parents when a student did not arrive at the school, Zhang said the person in charge just lowered his head and did not answer.

Zhang said the incident would not have resulted in such a tragedy if Yu Zie had been found earlier.

She also said the school van was small, and if the driver had just turned his head to look or if a teacher had checked the bus, the tragedy could have been avoided.

The school van driver was arrested and is being remanded for seven days to assist with the investigation.

The case is being investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 for neglect.

Read more

Top image via Van Sekolah - Ulu kelang/Facebook. For illustration purposes only.