Guyana: a 7-year-old child found dead after being forgotten on a school bus

A seven-year-old boy was found dead in Guyana after being forgotten in a school bus which had reached its depot early Tuesday afternoon, we learned during a crisis press conference.

The victim lived in the village of Sainte-Rose-de-Lima, in the commune of Matoury, on the outskirts of Cayenne, and was educated in an elementary school in the town of this same commune.

At this stage, no information has been provided on the exact causes of the child's death. “We have noted a series of dysfunctions,” responded during the press conference held in the evening, Sandra Trochimara, president of the Central Coast Urban Community (CACL), responsible for school transport in six municipalities and which delegates its execution to several companies.

Precautionary measures were taken, leading to “the cessation of the service on this line”, she specified.

The circumstances of the tragedy remain to be clarified. Although school buses are normally equipped with a badge system, the vehicle concerned did not have one due to a change of bus.

However, chaperones are normally present on board to supervise and count the children. “This is not the first time that a child has been forgotten on a school bus,” recalls Isabelle Patient, director of Housing, Planning and Mobility at the CACL, “but it is the first time that this has resulted in a death.”