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Lola Soriano Pons
Tuesday, 6 August 2024, 17:35
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The story could be used as a plot for a film, but the situation was only too real and it took place in the city of Valencia in July, thankfully with a happy ending.
A foreign couple visiting 'la terreta' (the city's nickname) this summer to learn about its history, monuments and traditions got off a bus run by the Municipal Transport Company (EMT) leaving their two children, 3 and 5, inside.
The bus line where all the action took place was line 28, which connects Plaza del Ayuntamiento with Ciudad del Artista Fallero.
The couple, who spoke French, got off the bus in Calle Colón with the idea of going to the Poeta Querol area to visit the González Martí National Museum of Ceramics, and when they started walking away from the bus stop they realised that their two children had not followed them, in fact, they had not got off at the stop.
The parents were apparently sitting two rows ahead of the children, aged 3 and 5, and did not realise that they had not got off. The bus continued on its way and, two stops later, the children realised that their parents were not there.
The youngest child became frightened and started to cry and that was when a passenger noticed that something was amiss and she alerted the bus driver, who immediately called the control room. In turn, the control room operators asked if the children were in good health in order to activate the different protocols in place for such situations.
While all this was going on inside bus number 28, the parents, in utter panic, had already decided to take a taxi, ordering the driver to follow the bus.
They managed to stop a bus but, despite being the same bus line, it was a second bus on Line 28 and not the one in which their children were travelling.
This second EMT driver also alerted the control room that there were some parents looking for their children who had been left inside a municipal bus.
They all coordinated the operation and two inspectors and an EMT officer got on the bus to oversee the situation. The National Police were also notified.
The driver of the bus on which the children were travelling was also instructed to drive more slowly to allow time for the pursuing taxi to catch up with them in traffic. The other passengers were also asked if they could wait a few minutes for the parents to arrive and, of course, they all agreed.
Before the authorities could take the children off the bus, the parents appeared in their taxi looking very anxious. They were grateful for the deployment of resources to keep their children safe.
It had been a trying 40 minutes or so for these parents and their children, but it had a happy ending that they will always remember.
It should not be forgotten that on 30 May another EMT line, number 93, was the scene of a birth. A woman in labour gave birth to her baby during the bus journey and the driver alerted the control room, which redirected the call to 112 so that the father could attend the birth. Another happy ending.
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