3-Year-Old Child Trapped in School Bus Dies of Heatstroke Amid Japan's Extreme Heat

Japanese Government Reviews Safety Measures to Prevent Recurrence

A kindergarten bus entrapment accident occurred in Japan. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] A 3-year-old child trapped in a kindergarten school bus in Japan died of heatstroke.

According to NHK on the 7th, recently in a kindergarten in Makinohara City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, a 3-year-old girl, A, was trapped in a kindergarten school bus for about 5 hours and died of heatstroke. On the day of the accident, the highest temperature in Shizuoka Prefecture rose to 30.5 degrees Celsius.

This accident was a tragedy caused by inadequate safety management of the school bus. At the time, a total of six children, including girl A, were on the school bus, and A was sitting in the second row behind the driver's seat. The chairman driving the bus and the dispatched staff who accompanied him did not check whether the children had gotten off, and A’s homeroom teacher also did not take measures to confirm attendance with the guardians. The kindergarten had two teachers in charge, a homeroom teacher and an assistant teacher, responsible for 19 children.

The police noted that A’s water bottle was empty when found, and believe that as the temperature inside the vehicle rose, A drank all the beverage she had. The police are investigating on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, citing insufficient safety management such as checking the number of passengers when getting off the bus or inside the kindergarten, and have conducted a search and seizure.

At a press conference that day, the chairman apologized, saying, "I am sorry to girl A and her family." He added, "This unfortunate accident occurred because our safety management was not properly conducted. We will do our best to identify the cause first."

This is not the first such accident in Japan. In July last year, a 5-year-old boy, B, was left on a school bus for about 9 hours and died at a nursery in Fukuoka Prefecture. B’s mother issued a statement the day before, saying, "I am deeply shocked that a child was left in a vehicle and died again," and appealed, "Please protect the lives and smiles of children."

The Japanese government has formed a team consisting of departments from the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to review specific safety measures to prevent recurrence.

Similar school bus entrapment accidents have also caused controversy domestically. In July 2018, a 4-year-old child was trapped for 7 hours in a daycare center school bus in Dongducheon City, Gyeonggi Province, and died. On the 1st of last month, a 3-year-old child was trapped in a school bus at a kindergarten in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam-do, and was rescued after a passerby reported it.

Accordingly, the Road Traffic Act was amended in 2020 to mandate the presence of a guardian on children’s school buses. The accompanying guardian must take safety measures such as confirming that children safely get on and off the bus.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.