ABU DHABI // Al Worood Academy Private School will be shut down and fined Dh150,000 after a three-year-old girl died last year when she was locked on a school bus.
The Misdemeanour Court ruled on Sunday that the bus supervisor will spend three years in jail and be fined Dh20,000 for negligence that caused the girl’s death.
The court heard she failed to check the back row where the girl was sleeping before leaving the bus.
Nizaha Aalaa died from suffocation when she was locked in the vehicle after it arrived at the school. Her body was discovered at 11.45am.
The bus driver was also sentenced to three years in jail plus a Dh20,000 fine. The school administrator was given a suspended three-year jail sentence and fined Dh20,000 for failing to check student records that day.
The school was ordered to close, pay a fine of Dh50,000 for causing the girl’s death and pay a further Dh100,000 for endangering students’ lives by hiring unlicenced school buses.
The bus company owner was sentenced to six months in jail for endangering the lives of others, and was ordered to pay a fine of Dh500,000 for employing staff not on his sponsorship.
In addition, the first four defendants were ordered to pay blood money of Dh200,000, to be divided between them.
Nizaha’s death, which shocked the local community, has led to a raft of new safety measures being introduced by authorities in the capital.
Each defendant has one month to appeal against their sentence.
hdajani@thenational.ae