Ms. Nguyen Bich Quy reports more details about the case of the boy who died in the Gateway school bus.

Pham Du - Tat Dinh DNUM_CBZAIZCABJ 20:58

Ms. Nguyen Bich Quy said that because she was panicked, she did not remember the details of the incident with Long on the Gateway school bus, and now she can tell the details.

On August 20, Ms. Quy came to work at the Cau Giay District Police (Hanoi) according to the first summons. The questioning lasted from 2:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. In the case of first grade boy Le Hoang Long who died on the Gateway school bus due to being forgotten, Cau Giay Police determined that as the person who picked Long up and dropped him off, Ms. Quy "certainly has related responsibility". The police have initiated a case to investigate the crime.Involuntary manslaughter.

Although she said she could not remember exactly what happened during yesterday's interrogation due to the long working hours, Ms. Quy affirmed that she "told the police everything". Before this meeting, she invited a lawyer to consult so that her testimony would be more precise.

At her home in Dich Vong Hau ward (Cau Giay) this morning, Ms. Quy said that at 6:15 a.m. on August 6, she was at the gate of Gateway school on Khuc Thua Du street, Cau Giay district, starting her job of picking up and dropping off students in a Ford Transit driven by driver Doan Quy Phien (53 years old, contract employee of Ngan Ha Transport Company Limited). At the 6th stop, No. 1 Trung Yen, the car picked up Long.

Long, wearing a red uniform, happily walked to the car and chose a seat in the fourth seat behind the driver's seat. At nearly 8 o'clock, when the car dropped the children off at school, before closing the door, she "got in the car and looked and saw no children on the car" so there was no way Long was left behind.

Previously, 4 days after Long's death, Ms. Quy said "because I was in a hurry, when I glanced inside the car, I thought there was no one else, so I closed the car door and went into the school." She also said that she and driver Phien did not check carefully one last time before leaving the car, so "most of the responsibility for this lies with her."

Responding to the question of why her story was inconsistent, Ms. Quy said: "I don't remember clearly what I said before because I was in a state of panic. Now I'm calmer so I can speak more accurately."

School bus at Gateway School. Photo:Giang Huy

According to her, when she opened the car door at 3:45 p.m. on August 6 and discovered Long wearing a gray-white shirt, lying motionless on the floor behind the driver's seat, his head facing the door, she saw that the curtains in the car were closed. Meanwhile, she remembered that in the morning before leaving the car, she lifted the curtains to observe where she was sitting. In addition, that morning she checked the car and found no missing items, but on the afternoon of August 6 when she opened the door, she saw a yellow balloon. "I have never shared these details," she said.

On the afternoon of August 21, Cau Giay District Police refused to provide information about Ms. Quy's testimony because "the case is under investigation". The testimony of those involved is a secret of the investigation.

In response to information that Ms. Quy said that during the August 20 summons, she was pressured to sign the statement, Cau Giay District Police said that "it is Ms. Quy's personal right to say something, all meetings are in accordance with legal regulations."

The People's Procuracy of Cau Giay district said it had sent prosecutors to supervise the case and everything was in accordance with regulations.

Ms. Nguyen Bich Quy. Photo taken on August 10.

Regarding the rumor that driver Doan Quy Phien died, on the afternoon of August 20, at his home in Bac Tu Liem district, Mr. Phien's wife said that her husband was still healthy. The family was exhausted from the incident so "they cannot share anything more".

Mr. Phien is a contract employee of Ngan Ha Transport and Tourism Company Limited. A representative of the Department of Transport confirmed that this agency has granted a transport business license to Ngan Ha Transport and Tourism Company Limited. This company has registered to operate transport for 4 cars, but Mr. Phien's car is not included.

According to the registration agency's data, Mr. Phien's car BS 29B - 069.56 was manufactured in 2014, was registered on April 18, 2019 and expired on October 17, 2019.

Cau Giay District Police said they are "still working with Mr. Phien".

Pham Du - Tat Dinh