Toddler left for six hours on bus
Passers-by spot three-year-old girl crying after spending most of the school day locked inside municipal bus
A COUPLE in Brittany are taking legal action against the local council after their three-year-old daughter was locked inside a school bus for six hours.
The young girl, called Emma, is believed to have fallen asleep on the municipal bus travelling to nursery school in Poinçonnet in the Indre.
She woke up to find the bus in a car park. The rest of the children, supervisors and driver had alighted without her and she was locked in.
A couple driving past the parked bus later that afternoon saw the girl inside crying and alerted the mairie. Police broke in through the emergency exit to free her.
The school doctor said Emma's hands were badly bruised because she had spent hours hammering on the window for help.
The mairie, which is responsible for school transport, said the young girl did not take the bus very often and was not well-known to the supervisors on-board.
Mayor Jean Petitprêtre said he was surprised to find that there were no written rules for staff requiring them to check the bus for lost items - or people - before locking it.
He has called a meeting with the parents early next week to discuss what happened. A police investigation has opened.
