By Chen Hong (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-24 09:31

SHENZHEN: The father of a 20-month-old boy who was found dead on a school bus in Foshan, South China's Guangdong Province, wants police to investigate the incident because he suspects the boy's neck was broken.

Tang Zhengke saw his son's body for the first time at a funeral home on Wednesday, three days after the boy's death.

The boy, along with three other children, had been picked up by a teacher on their way to kindergarten at about 7 am on Sunday. The children were later left alone on the bus.

A teacher who went back to the bus at noon found the boy's body. By that point, he had been locked in the closed bus for more than four hours. The temperature was 60 C inside.

The grieving father attempted to pick up his son when he saw the body, and the boy's head lolled on its neck as though it were broken, according to a report by the Guangzhou-based newspaper New Express.

The father immediately grew suspicious that the boy's death was not accidental.

"Why was my son the only one left on the bus?" Tang was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

He asked police to bring in legal medical experts to examine the boy's body.

A preliminary examination indicated that heat stroke was to blame.

The administration of the kindergarten in Baini Town, Sanshui District, Foshan, said they would take full responsibility for the boy's death.

Zhu Yongping, a senior lawyer with Guangdong Datong Law Firm, told China Daily that the teacher, driver and kindergarten all bore responsibility.

"If the boy suffocated to death in the bus because of the carelessness of the driver and teacher, they will be charged with the crime of causing an unintentional death," Zhu said.

He added that the kindergarten should compensate the parents, including any costs incurred.

If the parents cannot reach an agreement with the kindergarten, they will have to turn to the courts.

The kindergarten was ordered to suspend classes after the incident.

Education authorities in Shanshui District also requested all kindergartens and primary and middle schools in the district to carry out safety checks, especially of their busses.