Classmates of the two pupils of a school (name withheld) in Aguda area of Surulere, Lagos State, who suffocated and died inside the school bus have revealed how the tragic incident happened.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that the school bus driver, Odunsa Mandala, was arrested by the police after two pupils died while others passed out due to suffocation in their school bus in Aguda area of Lagos state.
Mandala was conveying the pupils to their respective homes after close of school last Friday and was said to have wound up all the glasses because of the downpour.
However, some of the pupils said they complained of feeling unwell in the course of the journey, but that the driver ignored them.
According to Vanguard, one of the pupils, who narrowly escaped being suffocated to death, told his parents that “most of us complained that we were tired and feeling somehow.
“Then two boys started gasping for breath and they fainted. We shouted. That was when he (driver) stopped.”
By the time the driver stopped the bus, two of the pupils who were found unconscious, had died inside the vehicle.
Parents of those whose children survived, expressed disappointment at the management of the school, wondering why there was no first aid in the vehicle.
The father of one of the dead pupils was said to had reported the matter to the Police.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyi, who confirmed the incident said the air conditioner in the bus was not on while the glasses were wound up.
He said, “Two pupils died. The driver is in our custody. Investigation is ongoing. one of the pupils that died was eight years old.”