A bus driver had “no way” of seeing a four-year-old boy who ran into the road moments before he was fatally struck outside a Kent hospital, an inquest has heard.
Zaahir Jan Feizi, from Canterbury, died after being hit by a single-decker bus on a zebra crossing near the A&E entrance at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate. He had been visiting his grandmother at the hospital when the tragedy happened.
An inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone heard today, Wednesday, September 2, that the Stagecoach bus was travelling at around 5mph when the collision happened shortly after 4pm on August 7 last year.
Zaahir was rushed into the hospital following the collision, but despite efforts to save him, he died.
The bus driver, who was granted anonymity and referred to during proceedings as Witness A, told the inquest they had stopped to allow an elderly pedestrian to cross the road.
The driver said that almost immediately after pulling away, they heard a young boy screaming for the bus to stop before feeling a bump.
Witness A stopped the vehicle and applied the handbrake before discovering Zaahir had been struck.
The driver said they had not seen the youngster and would have stopped immediately had they seen him running into the road or identified a hazard.
CCTV showed collision unfold
DC Victoria Steward, from the serious collision unit, told the hearing that police officers arrived around four minutes after the crash.
Investigators were able to review CCTV covering the hospital entrance, exit and surrounding road.
The footage showed Zaahir running from the hospital exit and into the road without stopping.
At the same moment, the bus had just begun moving again and Zaahir collided with the front of the vehicle.
A witness described seeing Zaahir and another boy laughing and apparently “playing chase” immediately before the collision.
The court heard that Zaahir appeared to try to stop himself as he approached the road, but was unable to do so before being struck.
DC Steward told the hearing that the CCTV demonstrated there was “no way” the bus driver would have been able to see him as he ran out.
The bus was travelling at approximately 5mph.
A pathologist determined that Zaahir died from multiple internal injuries.
Coroner records accidental death
Coroner Sarah Clarke found there was no evidence that the bus driver had been impaired or distracted.
She also concluded that the evidence did not establish that the driver could have avoided the collision.
The coroner subsequently recorded Zaahir’s death as an accident.
The hearing was told that changes have since been made outside the hospital.
Zaahir’s mother, Azaria Green, said East Kent Hospitals Trust had changed road markings and installed railings near the entrance in an effort to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.
Stagecoach said it remained deeply saddened by Zaahir’s death and that its thoughts continued to be with his family and everyone affected by the tragedy.
