PETALING JAYA: A mother’s six-year wait for justice ended after the Kota Baru High Court found several parties negligent in the death of her 12-year-old son, who fell through the rotten floor of a bus during a school trip.
Justice Mohd Rosli Yusoff found the bus driver, bus owner, school headmaster and education authorities responsible for the death of Wan Mohammed Adam Mohd Suria.
The court ordered compensation of RM17,573 to Adam’s mother, Nik Hasmani Mohamed, after she successfully proved her claim on a balance of probabilities.
The court also held the defendants collectively 100% liable for the boy’s death.
The incident occurred at about 11.40am on July 4, 2019, when Adam and 30 Year Six pupils from SK Tok Bok, Machang, were travelling to Bukit Kluang in Besut, Terengganu.
They were on their way to participate in the English Booster Week UPSR 2019 programme under the Empower ECER Academic Training Programme organised by Institut Pendidikan Neo (iNED), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).
Adam fell through the rotten section of the bus floor before being thrown onto the road at KM12 of Jalan Pasir Puteh-Machang-Grik. He died at the scene.
In his grounds of judgment dated Aug 9, Mohd Rosli said the accident could have been avoided if bus driver Shalahudin Ibrahim had exercised proper control over the pupils during the journey.
The judge said the driver should have firmly prohibited the children from walking or moving around the bus while it was travelling, and could have stopped the vehicle if they refused to follow his instructions.
Mohd Rosli also found bus owner Mohamad Che Su negligent for allowing the pupils to board a bus with a rotten and damaged floor.
“The court is satisfied that the front section of the bus floor where the victim fell was rotten and unsafe,” he said, adding that replacing the entire floor with a new and sturdy one would have prevented the accident even if the children walked or jumped inside the bus.
The court also found the school’s headmaster at the time, Ahmad Sanusi Ramlee, negligent for failing to take appropriate measures to ensure the pupils’ safety.
No teacher had been assigned to accompany the pupils, while an accompanying officer said to have been arranged by the programme organiser was also absent.
“Not only did the headmaster fail to provide a teacher to accompany the pupils, he also failed to ensure the attendance of the accompanying officer said to have been provided by the organiser,” the judge said.
Although the programme was not organised entirely by the school, the judge noted that it had been approved by the state Education Department and involved pupils from SK Tok Bok.
As a result, the state Education Department and the government were also held vicariously liable for the headmaster’s negligence.
The court further found iNED and UiTM responsible after determining that they had failed to provide an accompanying officer or facilitator on the day of the incident, despite a UiTM staff member and student facilitator having been assigned to accompany the pupils and provide safety briefings during the journey.
The plaintiff had sought RM1mil each in aggravated and exemplary damages, but the court dismissed both claims.
Mohd Rosli expressed his sympathy to Adam’s family over the tragedy and the loss they had suffered.
However, he said the court could not determine liability or the amount of compensation based on sympathy, but was bound by the facts, the law and previous decisions of higher courts.
