ABU DHABI // The family of Nizaha Aalaa, 3, who died after being locked in a school bus in fierce heat last year, will receive Dh100,000 in compensation.
In its final verdict, the Court of Cassation on Tuesday ruled that the blood money to Nizaha’s family would be paid by the school, its principal and the bus driver and supervisor.
Nizaha, a KG1 pupil at Al Worood Academy Private School in Abu Dhabi, died from heat exhaustion on October 7 after she was locked in the bus.
“We respect the court judgment and hope that such a tragic thing never would happen to anybody again,” her grandfather, Asghar Ali, said on Tuesday.
“Whatever punishment is pronounced, it is not going to replace the suffering of the family due to the loss of the child.
“We are thankful to the local authorities that after the incident school bus rules were further tightened and more safety was ensured for children.”
Mr Ali revealed that exactly a year after Nizaha’s death, “Allah bestowed the family with another baby girl”.
On Tuesday the court upheld the Court of Appeal’s verdict and rejected an appeal from the prosecution for a heavier sentence.
It also overturned an earlier ruling to shut down the school, but the Abu Dhabi Education Council ordered it to be closed.
In appeals the driver had his sentence reduced from three years in jail to six months and was fined Dh20,000. The bus supervisor had her sentence reduced from three years to one and was fined Dh20,000. Both were convicted of negligence that led to the girl’s death.
The Appeals Court cleared the bus company owner of recruiting two employees of whom he was not the sponsor, employing untrained and unlicensed bus attendants and recruiting drivers who did not have school bus permits.
The court upheld his conviction and six-month sentence for endangering children’s lives, because the buses were not licensed for school transport.
The former president and owner of Al Worood, Dr Muna Al Ansari, said she was relieved the case had ended.
“But we are not happy because the school is closed and students are suffering,” Dr Al Ansari said. “There are no teachers in the building. There is history at that school.”
Dr Al Ansari said the school’s account had paid Dh150,000 to the courts to cover the fine and blood money.
“But the result, it’s too bad. We lost one of our students, we lost our school and it’s not our fault because the student didn’t come to school.
“She was in the bus and the bus is outside of the school. And it’s a private company. In general, it is not our fault.”
Former principal Roderick Williams said the school’s owner had also paid the legal costs, and that the final verdict was “a weight off my shoulders”.
“It’s a relief that this matter is finally over,” said Mr Williams, a South African. “I’m grateful that the matter has been resolved one way or another. I also feel for the family. They can get closure. I still grieve for that little girl.
“The fact that they wanted me to pay blood money is absolutely atrocious because I was never involved in the line of fire, as it were.
“I never felt attached to the whole tragedy in an emotional way and I never felt responsible because it was not my job to check up on buses and stuff like that. The bus company would oversee that.”
He said he hoped Adec would allow him to continue to work.
“They have indicated to me that I am not allowed to be a principal, which is OK – I’ve had enough of that,” Mr Williams said. “I wouldn’t want to be a principal in Abu Dhabi but a teacher, that’s my job.
“I would work as a teacher, no problem.”
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