An incident in a village in the Chania hinterland has caused a stir, as two children, ages 4 and 5, were reportedly left locked inside a school bus for five hours, without being noticed by the chaperone or the driver.
The incident occurred at noon on Wednesday, September 16, when the two children, who attend a local preschool, were found inside a Chania KTEL bus – Rethymno bus, which had been parked since the morning in preparation for the midday return trip later that day.
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According to complaints from parents submitted to zarpanews.gr, it all began when a mother went to bring her child lunch, as it was the first day of full-day school. However, as they claim, the school told her that the child had not attended school that day. That’s when the search began; the bus driver went to where he had parked the bus shortly before 1 p.m. and found not one, but two children in a terrible state.
“The children were wet and crying, in a terrible state,” said a parent of a student who attends a local school. According to the complainants, the school bus departed at 7:45 a.m. with an escort, who were reportedly assigned to this specific route for the first time.
As the parents stated, the children on the morning route got off at school as usual, while the two preschoolers—who were reportedly sitting in the back seats—were left locked inside without anyone noticing.
“They’re in preschool; maybe they didn’t hear the bus attendant, but shouldn’t the attendant have checked to make sure they all got off? How did she end up in this position?” a parent told zarpanews.gr, adding: “The children don’t want to get back on the bus, and neither do the parents want to put them back on it.”
“Thankfully, it was cool because of the rain—what would have happened if it had been hot?” wondered another parent.
In a communication between zarpanews.gr and the Chania Primary Education Directorate, it was revealed that, so far, the department has been informally notified and will take whatever action is necessary, within the scope of its responsibilities.
KTEL’s Response – “The escort has been removed”
In a conversation between zarpanews.gr and Yiannis Kapsanakis, president of KTEL Chania–Rethymno, the incident was confirmed: “We were informed of the incident, and it is true. It did indeed happen. The attendant has been removed from her position; she was fired, and starting tomorrow, another woman will take her place. She said the children had fallen asleep and she didn’t see them. We are truly sorry for what happened and we apologize.”
Source: Proto Thema
