New Delhi: A pall of gloom descended upon residents of the JJ cluster near Kanhaiya Nagar, to which the deceased seven-year-old Garima and 17 other injured children belonged. According to some residents, this is the first time they have witnessed such a tragic incident where children were the victims.
"The vans were plying from more than two to three years. But we never witnessed such incident. It was a sad news," said the residents.
Ganesh Devendra, one of the children who went to school in the van along with his sister, fortunately stayed at home on Thursday morning.
"I was suffering from flu. So my mother told me to stay home. Mother also told my sister Trisha not to go, telling her that if I stayed home there would be no one to take care of her at school. But she did not listen, as she was class monitor, and went to school and met with the accident," said Ganesh.
At the JJ colony, many parents were found unaware of the number of children loaded up each day in the school van.
One such parent is Pawan, the father of Vansh, who is now admitted in hospital.
"Only today I came to know that 18 children used to go in the cab. I had no time to check, as I go to work early morning," the father says.
Anu Parha, mother of victim Rishika, said some parents had recently started sending their child in the van, but had no idea about how many children it ferried. Parents claimed that they paid Rs 400 per month to the van.
Recently, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had sent a set of 56 questions to schools in the city to check whether children travelling in school buses are being providing adequate security.
"We have got the information which will be analyzed but we suspect negligence from their (schools's) side," said an NCPCR official, adding that they are checking whether the Supreme Court guidelines for transportation of school students are being implemented.
Meanwhile, in another accident, three children sustained minor injuries in Bharat Nagar area of north west Delhi on Thursday morning.
Police claimed the children they were hit by a speeding car, after which they were rushed to a nearby hospital. The accused driver has been arrested.