Girl, 3, dies after driver left her in school van for 7 hours

A 3-year-old girl died in the outskirts of Bangkok yesterday after a driver forgot about her in a school van for over seven hours.

On her second day of school, the kindergartner Primprapa Pajjaiyo or “Nong Ing” was found lying face down on the floor of the school van around 3pm yesterday.

Arthit Rangsiyo, 33, the van driver told police he picked up Nong Ing along with 12 other kindergartners in the Denchai Samakkhi housing estate in Samutprakarn to take them to Khlong Krabue school in the morning, Nation TV reported.

But when the air-conditioner stopped working, Arthit and his assistant, Sathit Suwanjak, 33, called for another van to collect the children.

They abandoned the van on the roadside near the housing estate without realizing Nong Ing was still inside.

Nong Ing was believed to be sleeping in the back of the van.

The driver and his assistant did not realize the girl was missing until they returned to take the children home after school.

They admitted they did not do a head count when moving the children to the second van.

Nong Ing’s mother Thanatcha, 34, said she was the youngest of her five children.

The driver and his assistant were charged with carelessness causing death.

Sadly, Nong Ing was not the first kindergartner to die due to the recklessness of school staff. In May 2013, a 3-year-old boy, “Nong Potter”, died after being left by his teacher for seven hours in a school van in Si Saket province.

Also in 2013, another 3-year-old girl died the same way in Samut Prakarn. Two teachers were charged over her death, Bangkok Post reported.