Six-year-old Abdulmalik and, right, his uncle explains the tragic case to the local press.

In a heartbreaking incident, a child, allegedly forgotten on a school bus, died due to suffocation.

The police and education department have launched separate investigations into the case.

Abdul Malik, a six-year-old who was in Grade 3, had apparently fallen asleep on the bus on the way to his private school in Jeddah. The driver had then parked the bus until the end of the school day, a local publication reported on Tuesday.

The father and uncle of the child accused school officials of being negligent and said they should have noticed the child was missing. The child’s uncle, Yahya Awad, said Abdul Malik was healthy and did not suffer from any illnesses.

“When he did not return home, we could not get in contact with anyone at the school. The school later contacted my brother and told him that his son was ill. When he went with his wife to the school, they were shocked to find he had died.”

He said that there should have been a person on the bus to attend to the children. “Most importantly why did the school not contact the family to ask why the boy was absent?”

Abdullah Al-Thaqafi, director of Jeddah’s education department, has launched a probe into the matter. The police department has also launched an investigation. A medical examination is under way to determine the cause of death.

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