![]() "One of the telephones, belonging to a classmate, fell to the ground, so I pulled off the handcuffs, hurting myself a bit, and went and picked it up. "We were all very afraid because the driver had emptied the gas canister onto the floor (of the bus.) He tied us up and took all the telephones so we could not call the police," the student said. One of the middle school students described his terror in an interview with La Repubblica TV, his face obscured due to his age. ANSA said the chaperones only loosely bound several students' hands with the zip ties, not everyone's. Italian news agency ANSA quoted one of the students as saying the driver everyone's phones and ordered the chaperones to bind the students' hands with cable ties, threatening to spill gas and set the bus ablaze. The driver threatened the passengers, telling them "no one would survive today" as he commandeered the bus, De Marchis said. ![]() Milan's provincial Carabinieri commander, Luca De Marchis, told broadcaster Sky TG24 that the bus was ferrying two middle-school classes between school and a nearby gym in Cremona province, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Milan. "Thank goodness, because by then the intent to massacre had ignited, and the man was starting to set fire to the bus, as he did," he said. "They carried out an operation that we see in films with special agents," Greco said. Prosecutors said they have found no evidence of Islamic radicalization or ties to extremists, saying it appeared the bus driver acted alone.Ĭhief prosecutor Francesco Greco praised the Carabinieri for moving swiftly to block the bus and remove the children. Sy was being investigated on suspicion of kidnapping, intention to commit a massacre, arson and resisting law enforcement, with terrorism as an aggravating circumstance since the event caused panic. Hopefully, nothing like this ever happens again.He also sent a video to friends in Italy and Senegal indicating plans for a bold action and with the message, "Africa, Rise up," they said. Our hearts go out to the little boy and his family. The Buxton Police Department and local school district are investigating the incident. He has since been put on administrative leave. The school district told reporters that the 63-year-old bus driver was a fairly new driver. Muchmore shared that the rules spell out clearly that when a child exits the bus, the bus driver is to watch that child safely walk to the front of the bus, make eye contact, and then wait to be waived across. Obviously, mistakes happened,” Dottie Muchmore the transportation director told WGMT-TV. “Loading and unloading is the most critical time of a bus driver’s job.īus drivers must be 100% focused during that time. One question that hangs in the air is why the school bus driver closed the door fast enough to ensnare a child.Īnd why did he drive off without making sure the boy was safely on the sidewalk or in a driveway? According to WGME-TV, the school transportation director explained that there are strict protocols in place specifically to avoid accidents like that unfolded here. Lavigne told reporters that her son is scared and doesn’t want to take the school bus anymore, and honestly, who could blame him after such a traumatic event? But, be warned, the images are hard to look at because it appears the child’s skin was worn right off in some places. Local news station WGME-TV shared images of his injuries. The boy, who was wearing shorts and a tee-shirt, is alive and has been treated at a local hospital for road rash. I didn’t think the driver was going to stop,” the boy’s mother, Athena Lavigne told WGME-TV. I was waiting for his little body to go underneath the bus. ![]() I thought he was going to just keep driving. According to the Associated Press, the boy’s mom saw the horrifying event unfold. The bus began to drive off, dragging the child 575 feet before finally stopping. ![]() In Buxton, Maine, which is a stone’s throw from where I live, a kindergartner was exiting his school bus this past Thursday when the driver closed the door, entangling one of the boy’s backpack straps. A child was badly injured after his backpack got stuck and the bus took off, dragging him nearly 600 feet. I thought of that horrifying story that kept me terrified of school bus windows all through my childhood when the news broke in my home state of Maine. ![]()
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