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5-year-old boy dies after being left unattended in school bus for hours

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So if he was found on the bus going to school.... That means he never got off the bus.

How come he was not noticed missing at registration?

And how come, if was noticed missing at registration, parents not called?

22 ( +22 / -0 )

"I was aware of (the boy's) boarding, but thought he got off the bus," while admitting he did not confirm it at the time.

Children sometimes can be unseen only by quick look, need to go to bus from front to back to make sure there's no one left anymore.

20 ( +20 / -0 )

What can you say? Is it that hard to walk down the isles looking? How stupid do you have to be to park a bus and not have a look, is there a bag? A person still onboard? Really how stupid do you have to be?

11 ( +17 / -6 )

Condolences to the grieving parents, family. friends, fellow students & teachers . A terrible, tragic loss.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

Pure negligence!

9 ( +23 / -14 )

When I pick up my son at the bus stop, he sometimes takes a bit of extra time gathering his things. He bends down to pick up things on the seat and you don't see his head above the window or the other seats. To think this bus driver just locked the doors and walked away without checking, that is pure negligence and he should be held accountable for that. If the parking lot, as in the case with my son's kindergarten, is far from the entrance to the building, nobody would have noticed a kid banging on the window trying to get out. With these high temperatures, a kid would only last about an hour.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Rest In Peace smart and innocent boy. Tragic, that could be prevented if people are more responsible and considerate of human life.The driver was irresponsible but the school was the most irresponsible for failing to assign a guide or a teacher with a list to check on the children during their journey to school. Moreover, what did it take for not calling the parents to inquire about the boy’s wellbeing when he didn’t show up? There’s a lot of questions to ask.

It’s a sad and a very difficult time for his family, the driver, the school and the whole humanities. Words cannot express the extents of my sad feelings.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Devastating news.

Bus driver and school teachers are 100% responsible for this disaster!

5 ( +10 / -5 )

At some point, either the bus driver or the school should have noticed that the boy was missing, both are to be blamed for the death of the child unless the bus driver was overworked or not given the proper instructions.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

No winners here. Very sad.

Rest well, young one.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Would have taken less than a minute to do a sweep of the bus and ensure all the kids had disembarked. Guess that was too much time for some people.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

This story really hits me in the gut: both, as a teacher and a parent of three kids. Very simple - Check your bus before locking up. My school does it all the time, and some of the time, lost items turn up in the busses. Yes, pure negligence.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

This is so tragic. There are several measures that could be taken to prevent things like this from happening, none of them require anything high tech.

My daughter is a kindergarten student and takes the bus (well, she will take the bus after summer holiday at least. At her kindergarten the bus driver is NOT the only adult on the bus, they also always has a teacher go along who sits with the students and can keep an eye on them during the ride. Reading a story like this makes me really appreciate the value of that system since having it in place would probably have prevented this tragedy.

Also as a back up measure the buses at our daughter's school are parked under a roof when not in use, which prevents them from over-heating on hot sunny days, which might also have prevented this child's death.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Tragic, but also avoidable. Once the child is on the bus, the kindergarden has a duty of care, and they failed with it badly here.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Tragic - RIP to the little one and condolences to the family.

It's not only driver's fault. It's the nursing school staff and the presumption that if a kid didn't show it's with the parents.

I've been often surprised how easy is for parents to take day off from school for their kids. When I was young we could be missing only if ill and with a letter from parent with a good reason.

Nothing will return the kid to his parents though.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

When I was a kid , we were counted several times a day. Of course we thought, are the adults stupid, can’t they remember how many we are? It’s really been nerving us at those times, but reading nowadays so many similar news, it had obviously made sense and there never had been such cases. Just consider to check and count more often, as it had been for decades ago.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This is the second time this has happened. I live in Fukuoka and have experienced putting my own children on buses to go to school in the past with anxiety. I once again find myself bringing the thought forward in my mind. It could happen to anyone's kids/kid. Japanese workers just go through the day sometimes with blinders on and lack situational awareness skills badly at times.

There is no excuse for this. None what so ever.

The school in Nakama should be closed.

Disturbing. My heart goes out to the parents who must just devastated.

Good question. And it needs to be answered.

WilliB-And what about the school? They did not noti............

2 ( +2 / -0 )

If the driver was instructed to check for kids and given a checklist, it's the driver's fault.

If the driver was instructed to check for kids and not given a checklist, it's the driver's and kindergarden's fault.

If the driver was not instructed to check for kids, it's the kindergarden's fault.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

How tragic! The parents must be devastated.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Here’s another example of ‘REAL concern for human life’[sarcasm] on daily display here:

@Kentarogaijin 11:30am: “Don't take advantage of this tragedy to show your anti-Olympian pettiness“.

vs.

Simply pointing out the priorities for children’s lives in Japan are ‘grossly askew’.

- @9:23am: “How about those corporate sponsors, featured today using some of that AI & robotics money and tech to ‘draw fleeting Olympic pictures in sand’, spending money on useful applications to protect &’save Japan’s children?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

This is very upsetting and unbelievable

1 ( +2 / -1 )

How tf does the teacher not call home when the kid doesn't show up for class?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

sad. the driver must of just looked down the bus instead of walking down before getting off. during summer you would think that the driver would check.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Heartbreaking to think of the kid being locked in the bus while slowly boiled to death. Because the driver was too lazy to confirm everyone got off. And what about the school? They did not notice a missing kid either?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Didn't this happen a year or two ago? It seems like all schools/school bus drivers would have learned from this. This could put the school's business in jeopardy as it did with the nursery school that the child died in the pool. Safety should be the primary concern.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

RIP bello! Should not have happened. So sorry.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I asked my husband about this news.

he told me that the bus driver is the owner of the nursery school , I think he was lazy to check the bus .

Condolence to the Family

0 ( +0 / -0 )

DaveJuly 30  07:12 am JST

That is why drivers get up and walk all the way back after all kids get off looking for kids and something left on the bus,......Too late to talk about it now....Poor Baby and parents

This is sad and it could've been prevented. Total negligence and dereliction of duty.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@ rare reason, these were my thoughts as well, either way this tragic event could have been avoided with a simple check.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How about those corporate sponsors, featured today using some of that AI & robotics money and tech to ‘draw fleeting Olympic pictures in sand’, spending money on useful applications to protect &’save Japan’s children?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

How old was Ojisan driver ?

Not much is said in the article about the reason for mistakes but it shall be easy to verify the checks required.

Even with a drinking bottle, it was impossible to last for day.

At 5, impossible to think of anything (all buses in my country have hammers to knock windows for emergency).

RIP to that angel.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

The driver did not check when he should have done so and a boy died.

Heartbreaking.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Most kindergarten buses have "staff" as well as the driver. So maybe not the drivers fault. How are the parents sending a 5 year old to school in such a sleep deprived state?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Someone needs to go to jail for this. How can this happen?

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

Like N. American school buses, do these J buses have emergency duress buttons and 24-hour, radio-linked, on-board cameras, continually monitored by company staff, of the children & driver, at all times, in the interest of safety and to avoid such tragedies?

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

The driver needs to be put in jail for a very long time. It is hardly rocket science to CHECK the damn bus after EVERY trip.

Rest in Peace to the poor little boy.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

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