Another kid falls prey to ‘killer’ van

Another schoolboy fell prey to the ‘killer’ school van that he was travelling in, marking a dangerous trend that has left parents fearful. The five-year-old boy, late on Tuesday, succumbed to injuries that he sustained when he was hit by the vehicle, after it dropped him.

Police sources said kindergarten student V Aakash (5) of the Everest Matriculation School in Padappai near Tambaram, was dropped near his house in Arambakkam on Tuesday. Not noticing the boy standing right in front of the van, the driver moved the vehicle forward and knocked him down. Witnesses say the boy’s leg was injured severely.

Once the boy caught alarmed passersby’s attention, van driver Arivalagan (23), rushed the boy to a private hospital in Padappai. While the driver maintained that Aakash was looked over by the doctor there, the doctor has a different story to tell.

A staff member in the nursing home alleged that the van driver had hidden the fact that Aakash had been hit by a vehicle, “He said the boy had fallen down. So the doctor just sutured up his leg and sent him home. If he had known that he was in an accident, he would’ve referred him to a bigger hospital and asked for immediate scans.” On being discharged, the boy developed high fever and died.