Girl locked in NYC school van smashes window with shoes to escape
QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) -- Queens resident Mahtabul Bhuiyan is still fuming over what happened to his 5-year-old daughter Thursday morning.
The school van driver responsible for taking her to her private school didn't check all the seats before he got out and left the little girl inside, sleeping in the back seat.
"It was like 82 degrees yesterday outside. And the minivan was fully sealed windows. From 7 [a.m.] to 10:30 [a.m.]. So she could have died. She could have died," Bhuiyan said.
Bhuiyan said school officials at the private Al-Ihsan Academy in South Ozone Park later told him the driver thought he successfully dropped off all of the students before he drove and parked 10 minutes away in Richmond Hill to go to a doctor's appointment.
But the kindergarten student - trapped in a locked, hot van - had the presence of mind to use her hard-bottom shoes to break one of the van's windows, and then give her father's phone number to a complete stranger who just happened to be walking by the van.
PIX11 News on Friday spoke exclusively with that school van driver, a man named Faruk.
When asked to confirm that he didn't know the little girl was in the back seat, Faruk responded, "No, no. I don't know. Because she sleeping."
When asked why he didn't check the back seats, Faruk continued, "Yeah, it was mistake. Mistake. Inshallah. I will do it, inshallah. Sometimes me forget, like sometimes. You understand?"
The school, in response, told PIX11 News: "This unfortunate incident deeply saddens us. The driver has been suspended. We met with the parents and will continue to offer support to them."
Bhuiyan said he is grateful for his weekly lesson with his daughter to memorize his phone number in case of an emergency.
"Three hours stuck in that minivan. And she's not unconscious. I'm really proud of her because she was really brave. I can't imagine how she handled this situation," said Bhuiyan.
Bhuiyan said it was so hot inside that van, that his little girl started taking off her uniform and drank her entire water bottle.
She doesn't want to go back to that school, and he doesn't want her to go back either.
The father said he is hiring an attorney to pursue the matter.