Driver and CEO of Transportation Company Arrested Following Bus Accident Involving Kerman Students

The case of the overturning of a bus carrying Kerman students on the Shahdad-Kerman route, which resulted in the deaths of 6 people and injuries to 35 others, is under investigation by the prosecutor's office in Mahaan, and several responsible officials have been summoned for explanations. This incident occurred on February 7 during the return of 12th-grade students from Farzanegan School in Kerman from a scientific and tourism camp, and has been pursued by judicial authorities due to what has been termed 'persistent technical defects of the bus' and 'failure to adhere to camp protocols.' According to the government news agency ILNA, Sina Bani Asad, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Mahaan, announced that the bus driver and the CEO of the transportation company have been in custody since the day after the incident, and the school principal is also under judicial supervision. Additionally, investigations have shown that the executive regulations for student camps were 'not fully and accurately' followed by the school and the education department. The school was required to contract with a reputable transportation company, but the officials of Farzanegan School in Kerman made personal agreements with drivers, and the transportation company prepared the status report solely based on the drivers' statements without any review. Consequently, the provincial education director, the provincial road and transportation director, the provincial road and urban development director, and the head of the second district education department in Kerman have been summoned to the prosecutor's office for explanations. The prosecutor of Mahaan announced that the office of the relevant transportation company has been sealed off by judicial order, and its activity code has also been deactivated. This local judicial official added that according to existing guidelines, there should be 'a supervisor or same-gender instructor present in each bus with the students, but preliminary investigations indicate that no supervisor or instructor was present in the bus at the time of the incident.' Bani Asad emphasized that 'this case is being processed out of turn in the prosecutor's office in Mahaan, and the judiciary will deal with violations and crimes related to this incident without any leniency or compromise.' Previously, road police investigations had shown that one of the rear wheels of the bus had been lacking a braking system from the beginning. Furthermore, the aging of the transportation fleet played a role in this incident, and the bus in question was a Volvo B.12 model from 2003. A Red Crescent official in Kerman stated: 6 students were killed in the bus accident. A chain collision on the Mehran-Ilam road left several dead and injured. An accident and fire involving several fuel tankers occurred on the Manojan-Hachtbandi road.