7-year-old girl falls through hole in school bus — crushed to death under its wheels

The child’s father, Ravi Yadav, a businessman, said that Ananya fell through the broken portion near the rear wheel.

“It was other children inside the bus who started shouting and raised an alarm. However, the driver did not stop immediately and continued driving for nearly 100-150 metres,” Ravi alleged.

He said a taxi driver, who was passing by, noticed the child on the road, sped ahead, and stopped his vehicle in front of the bus to alert the driver about what had happened.

According to the family, the driver then reversed the bus and placed the child inside the vehicle.

Ananya’s uncle, Santosh Yadav, alleged that instead of taking the girl to the nearest hospital, the driver drove the bus to their home. “We immediately rushed her to a hospital, but the doctors declared her dead,” he said.

Angered by the incident, the family and local residents staged a protest, alleging negligence. During the commotion, the driver was reportedly beaten up and the bus vandalised before both were handed over to the police. The protest was called off only after senior officials reached the spot and assured strict action in the matter.

The family has alleged that they had repeatedly informed the school management, staff and the driver about the damaged and unsafe condition of the bus floor, but no action was taken.

More than 24 hours later, the police registered an FIR at Gangiri police station against school manager Arvind Yadav and bus driver Chandra Prakash. Police said the case has been filed under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Aligarh’s Assistant Regional Transport Officer, Pravesh Kumar, said action is being initiated against both the school management and the bus driver, and a case would be registered in connection with the accident.

Earlier in the day, before he was arrested, school manager Arvind Yadav said the bus had undergone servicing in January, and all identified defects had been repaired at that time.

“We suspect that the welding at one section of the floor may have come loose, possibly due to children jumping inside the vehicle, which led to a portion of the floor giving way. The child may have slipped through that damaged section,” he said, adding the school had hired 32-year-old Chandra Pal to drive the bus.

The school manager also claimed that the “hole in the bus floor got widened” when locals vandalised the vehicle.

Admitting negligence on the part of the driver, the school manager claimed that there was no visible hole or damage in the floor of the bus on Saturday morning after the driver had ferried the children to school.

The school is located nearly 55 km from Aligarh city and about 20 km from Kasganj. A majority of its students are from Kasganj. The institution, which runs classes up to the intermediate level, has an enrollment of around 500 students. The school bus ferried around 28 students to their homes.

It’s not an accident, it’s murder: Cong

Meanwhile, the Congress demanded a thorough probe into the incident, calling it a murder.

“This heart-wrenching incident tells the story of the corrupt government and the failed system in Uttar Pradesh. This is not an accident – it is a murder, which has been carried out by the corrupt and rotten system of the BJP,” the Congress said in a post on X.

“Residents reported that the school bus already had holes in its floor. They had complained about this several times, but no action was taken. In collusion between the school and the authorities, substandard and dilapidated buses were used for children, putting their lives at risk. Even today in Uttar Pradesh, children are crammed beyond the capacity limit in dilapidated buses, but the responsible people turn a blind eye to everything,” the Congress said.

“This incident should be investigated. and strict action should be taken against the culprits, so that no innocent becomes a victim of this corrupt system,” it added.