A teacher, a school bus driver and a bus monitor were handed jail terms for negligence that killed a six-year-old boy last August, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

All the three defendants were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Le Hoang Long, a first-grade pupil of Gateway International School.

(From left to right) Doan Quy Phien, Nguyen Bich Quy, and Nguyen Thi Thuy stand trial in Hanoi on January 14. Photo: Tran Cuong

Nguyen Thi Thuy, 29, Long’s teacher, was sentenced to one year in prison for negligence which caused serious consequences. The court also banned her from teaching for a year.

Doan Quy Phien, 53, the bus driver, and Nguyen Bich Quy, 55, an assistant traveling with the students on the bus, were sentenced to 15 months and two years in prison, respectively.

The indictment concluded that the boy died because the bus attendant failed to check the attendance of the students in the bus while the driver did not revise the passenger seats before leaving.

Thuy, the teacher, even knowing about the child’s absence without his parent’s notice, did not notify them of his absence.

The court said the school "did not strictly monitor" its system despite an administrative protocol in place.

Regarding civil liability, the bus service provider, Ngan Ha Company, has to pay VND249 million (US$10,745) to the victims' family.

At 6 a.m. on August 6, 2019, Phien and Quy picked up 13 Gateway International School students in Cau Giay district. In the afternoon of the same day, the boy was found dead on the floor of the van. Hanoi temperatures on that day were between 26 and 34 degrees Celsius (79-93 degrees Fahrenheit).

His death was caused by "heat stroke" and "respiratory failure" and no influence of external forces or diseases was found, a forensic report said.