DAMMAM: At least 10 Indian schoolchildren were injured, some of them seriously, in a road accident involving a minibus and a jeep here yesterday.
The privately-run minibus was carrying more than 25 children and was heading to drop them off at their homes in Thuqbah when the accident took place. According to eyewitnesses, the minibus slammed into the jeep at an intersection near Al-Rakah district, not far from the International Indian School-Dammam.
The injured children, with blood oozing from wounds to their heads, legs and shoulders, were rushed to the nearby National Guard Hospital and Astoon Hospital.
Attendants at the two hospitals made frantic calls to the school authorities and parents of the injured children rushed to the two hospitals. They tried to call the minibus driver but he had switched off his cell phone and was reportedly absconding. Police have issued an all-points bulletin for his arrest.
At the Astoon Hospital, parents were in a state of shock seeing their loved ones in blood-soaked clothes and crying in pain. “I just got a call from somebody saying my six-year-old daughter Zulfa was injured in a road accident,” said Zubair Abubakr.
“We don’t know what exactly happened. We live in Thuqbah and our daughter should have reached home at around 2.30 p.m. When she didn’t turn up, my wife got panicky and tried to call the driver. When she didn’t get through she called me and just then I got a call from the hospital about my daughter being injured,” said a highly distressed Zubair Abubakr.
Zulfa and other children received multiple wounds but Astoon Hospital staff told Arab News that the wounds were neither life threatening nor permanent. But some of the children who received head injuries are in a serious condition at the National Guard Hospital.
At least two of the school managing committee members were at the Astoon Hospital inquiring about the well-being of the children and comforting worried parents. One of the committee members, John Thomas, said private buses have always been found to be accident-prone. “We always advise parents not to go for private buses. They are always dangerous. You can’t trust these drivers. They are known to drive rashly and speed. Also, most of these buses lack proper air-conditioning,” Thomas said.
He said accidents can always happen but precautions should be taken at all times. “At the time of admissions we tell parents to prefer school buses over private ones.”
According to Thomas, there are two prime reasons for parents opting for private buses. “One, it is a little cheaper (against SR135 charged by the school bus, the private buses charge SR100) and, two, private buses offer door-to-door service which is not the case with official school buses. To get on to a school bus you have to wait at pre-selected spots close to your homes.”
What can only be described as callousness on the part of parents, some of them did not even know the name of the minibus driver. Jaffer Abdul Qader from Kerala, whose son Jazmir was among the injured, said he didn’t know the name of the driver because the minibus was arranged by one of his friends. “We are new to this area and my friend selected this minibus for my son who studies in Grade 12,” he said.
