Boy run over by school van

CHENNAI: A seven-year-old boy was run over by his school van near Gummidipoondi, on Thursday.Police said Praveen, son of lorry driver Venkatesan (35) of Thembedu and a class two student at a private school in Gummidipoondi, was sitting near the door of his school van as all the seats in the van were occupied.  The van driver Prakash was driving the vehicle at a high speed on a bumpy road when suddenly the van door swung open and the boy fell on the road at Rathambedu near Gummidipoondi.In a flash, the rear tyre of the van ran over the boy killing him on the spot. Other students in the van, who escaped unhurt, however, froze in fear. Just as onlookers screamed out seeing the gory accident, Prakash abandoned the vehicle and took to his heels. Soon, the enraged public agitated on the road blocking traffic demanding action. The protestors lashed out at private schools stating that they only charged excess fees but did not take any safety measures for their students.  “These schools charge a lot of fees but they don’t care for their students. All the school vans are overloaded and schools don’t make any facility for students to travel safely. There was no helper in the van who could have actually prevented the death. We want proper action to  be taken,” said one of the agitators.Gummidipoondi police registered a case and sent the boy’s body to Ponneri Government Hospital.