Two pupils injured after falling out of bus window while ‘wrestling’

Two Cape Town school pupils have been hospitalised after falling out of a Golden Arrow bus on their way to school.

The bus company confirmed that the incident happened on Friday morning, at around 7.30 am, in Factreton.

The bus was traveling from Khayelitsha to Maitland schools when the two children fell out of a window after dislodging an emergency window.

They were apparently playing wrestling when they dislodged the window.

Head and leg injury

Golden Arrow spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said the pupils immediately received medical attention and are being treated for a head and leg injury.

“They are in stable condition, and we are in contact with the hospital where they are being treated. We are hopeful that the scholars will make a full recovery,” said Dyke-Beyer in a statement.

She denied some reports that overcrowding contributed to this incident, saying that is “completely false”.

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According to Dyke-Beyer, the bus company reviewed the video footage from the school bus and found that it was less than 40% full and had entire rows of empty seats.

“The window in question was clearly marked as an emergency exit window which is required by legislation to give way when force is applied. Even if a window is pushed out, it is impossible to fall out of the said window if seated, as is required by our conditions of carriage.

“Throughout the trip, some of the scholars can be seen playing quite rowdily with each other whilst others are seated as per our conditions of carriage. Just before the incident three children make their way to the front row of seats behind the driver’s cab and climb onto the seats – the footage does not show how they fall out of the window because they are just of range but in the preceding moments, they appear to be playing wrestling.”

Safety rules

Golden Arrow urged parents to educate their children about the dangers of disobeying conditions of carriage and ignoring rules that are there for their own safety.

“Incidents of this type do not need to occur. Emergency windows are designed to give way when pressure is applied, but if these children had been seated, they could not have fallen out of the bus even if they managed to push out the window.”

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