New Jersey toddler left on cold school bus for nearly 6 hours

(AP) — Officials in central New Jersey have fired a school bus driver after a toddler was left on his bus in bitter cold weather for nearly six hours.

The 3-year-old got on the bus at 8 a.m. Tuesday for the ride to the Franklin Park School in Somerset County. He sat at on the bus without heat, food or water until he was discovered around 2 p.m.

The manager of the bus company tells the Courier News of Bridgewater the bus driver ignored a child reminder system that requires the driver to walk to the back of the bus to disable an alarm. The manager says the driver went outside to walk to the back of the bus, where he opened and closed the door to disable the alarm.

The boy’s mother, Mishiloh Akturk, tells the newspaper he seems fine.