Prosecution of the case of a first grader at Gateway school who died after being forgotten in a car

"Among those summoned by Cau Giay District Police are Doan Quy Phien (Gateway's contract driver) and Nguyen Bich Quy (school bus staff)," Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Hoa (Deputy Chief of Cau Giay District Police) said at a press conference held this afternoon at the district People's Committee headquarters about the death of boy Le Hoang Long (first grade student, Gateway School) due to being forgotten in a car.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Hoa, working with the investigation agency, Mr. Phien stated that at 6:00 a.m. on August 6, he drove a Ford Transit with license plate 29B-069.56 to pick up Ms. Quy, starting to transport students of Gateway School. Long was picked up at Trung Yen Plaza building (No. 1 Trung Hoa), and went to school with 12 other students.

At 7:25, when Mrs. Quy took the children to the school through the side gate, the driver took the car to the parking lot at the Academy of Journalism and Communication, 1.1 km from the school. This is a large yard near the volleyball court and the dormitory for female students. This place is very deserted during student class time and at noon, about 200 m from the security room but separated by a row of houses.

At 3:30 p.m. the same day, Mr. Phien drove to the school to pick up the children and take them home. Mrs. Quy said that when she opened the car door in the afternoon, she discovered Long unconscious on the floor behind the driver's seat.

The first grader was pronounced dead by authorities before arriving at E Hospital for emergency treatment. Long had been left in the car for 9 hours under the Hanoi summer sun, which had temperatures of 30-36 degrees during the day.

"From the above initial statements, the investigation agency determined that the case had signs of crime.Involuntary manslaughter(according to Article 125 of the 2015 Penal Code); responsibility certainly relates to Ms. Quy," said the Deputy Chief of Cau Giay District Police.

Lawyer Nguyen Anh Thom (Hanoi Bar Association) assessed that based on the initial evidence, the investigation agency's prosecution of the above crime is "completely appropriate". If the investigation agency has grounds to determine that Gateway school staff committed a crimeInvoluntary manslaughterthen this person will be guilty of "unintentional negligence" because he did not foresee the possibility of causing harmful consequences to society, even though he should have foreseen or could have foreseen.

If prosecuted for the crimeLack of responsibility causes serious consequences,The school staff's behavior was considered "negligent" due to not performing the task of checking and counting students when receiving them from parents until handing them over to the teacher in charge of the class.

Regarding the driver's responsibility, lawyer Thom said it is difficult to prosecute criminally because student management is the responsibility of the school.