Two people related to an illegal private school transport service in Bahrain were ordered to be kept in custody after a four-year-old girl was left inside the vehicle’s locked cabin for hours and suffered heatstroke. The kindergarten student remains under observation at Salmaniya Medical Complex.
The Public Prosecution noted that the situation became known to them only when the girl’s aunt called up the kindergarten to report she did not arrive at the end of the school day. It transpired that nobody had brought the child from the morning session.
In addition, kindergarten staff had been trying to contact the girl’s mother earlier in the day to inquire why she had not sent her daughter to school.
It was not until that afternoon, when the kindergarten contacted the driver directly, that he discovered the child still inside the vehicle.
She had spent hours trapped with the windows and doors shut before being rushed to hospital. The kindergarten reported the matter to police, alleging negligence on the driver’s part.
Prosecutors say the driver admitted he was operating without a licence to run a private transport service and claimed ignorance of the relevant regulations.
He also acknowledged failing to check whether the bus was empty before leaving it that morning. A woman who had been informally supervising children on the bus told investigators she too had not noticed the girl remained on board — despite not officially holding any such role with the kindergarten.
Both suspects have been ordered held for seven days pending further investigation, and the Education Ministry has been notified to review administrative procedures.
Prosecutors confirmed the bus was privately owned and contracted directly by parents, bypassing permit requirements set by the Education Ministry, the Transport Ministry and Bahrain’s traffic authorities. The case is expected to proceed to criminal trial.
The incident revives painful memories of a similar case last October, when four-year-old Hassan Al Mahari died after being forgotten in an unlicensed vehicle in Demistan.
The Bahraini driver in that case was initially charged with manslaughter but was acquitted on compassionate grounds after the boy’s family withdrew their complaint; she was fined BD300 for operating without a transport permit.
