Legal proceedings launched in death of Hà Nội first grader

 

A press briefing was held on Wednesday to provide further details related to the death of a first grader in Hà Nội on Tuesday. —VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Cầu Giấy District’s investigative police said on Wednesday they decided to take legal action following the death of a first grader at an international school in Hà Nội, treating it as an unintentional murder.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Trần Văn Hóa, deputy head of Cầu Giấy District’s police, said the police have summoned all people involved and will commence criminal proceedings against defendants when enough evidence has been collected.

Hòa refused to reveal the result of the autopsy, which finished by 4am yesterday.

“We will release the information to the media when we have final results,” he said.

At the press briefing, Phạm Thu Hà, chief of staff of Cầu Giấy District People’s Committee and People’s Council, told the media that after taking the students to the Gateway International School in the morning, the 53 year-old driver park the car at the dormitory of the Academy of Journalism and Communication nearby.

At 3.30pm the same day, Phiến drove to the school to pick up students to bring them home. The monitor opened the car door and found the boy unconscious and pale, lying on the floor behind the driver’s seat.

He was given first aid and rushed to Hospital E.

A parent of a student at the school, who took the boy to Hospital E, told vietnamplus.vn that the boy was found on the bus in the afternoon and was still breathing.

The school reported that the teacher in charge of the boy’s class, who was aware the student was missing from the class, did not report his absence. Earlier reporting claimed the teacher did report his absence, but the school said otherwise in its press conference.

The monitor in charge of the bus and the driver did not perform an attendance check when students left the bus.

Trần Thị Hồng Hạnh, president of the managing board of Gateway School, accepted responsibility for the incident.

The bus reportedly did not have a licence for use in transportation business services, Đào Việt Long, an official from Hà Nội’s Department of Transport, told the vietnamplus.vn.

A first grader at an international school in Hà Nội died on Tuesday after being forgotten on a school bus, according to authorities.

The six-year-old student was picked up on Tuesday morning at Trung Yên Plaza Building by a 16-seat vehicle, with driver Doãn Quý Phiến and monitor Nguyễn Bích Quy.

Eleven students on the bus were transported to Gateway International School in Cầu Giấy District.

At 4pm the same day, the family received the news that their child had not been present in class. Later, the family received another phone call saying that the child had been found inside the school bus. They were informed that the child had died.

Lê Văn Sơn, the victim’s father, said Tuesday was just the second day his son had gone to school for the new academic year.

The Gateway International School, funded by Edufit Education Corporation, has two centres in Hà Nội and Hải Phòng.

The Ministry of Education and Training said this was an extremely serious case and has asked the city's Department of Education and Training to work with agencies to clarify the events and impose proper punishments.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has ordered the Ministry of Public Security and relevant agencies to investigate and clarify responsibilities of individuals and organisations involved.

The education ministry has been asked to order relevant sectors to take measures to ensure schools' security and safety for the pickup service in order to prevent a repeat of the incident. VNS