3-year-old boy dies of suffocation after being forgotten in bus

According to Police, the child who was three years and eight months old, had fallen asleep inside the bus and was all alone for at least four hours.

The report was received from Amina Hospital on Monday (July 12) evening, which stated that a boy of Arab origin was brought to the facility in a critical condition and succumbed to asphyxiation.

As per initial investigation, the supervisor of the bus was guilty of negligence as he had failed to notice that the boy had fallen asleep inside the vehicle.

Reportedly, the bus belonged to a talent development centre.

Though the boy was found inside the bus and rushed to the hospital for immediate medical assistance, he could not be saved.

Leaving or forgetting a child inside a vehicle in such extreme hot conditions exposes children to heatstroke and suffocation. This could lead to death in less than ten minutes.

Police have in the past reported several incidents where children were left behind in locked vehicles while sleeping.

According to legal experts, a person, who is held responsible for causing the death or endangering a child's life by leaving them in a locked vehicle, can be penalized with a fine of up to Dh1 million and a 10-year jail term.

The punishment falls under the UAE's Child Rights Law, or Wadeema's Law, aiming to protect the rights of children.