Alberta girl, 6, narrowly escapes injury after she was dragged by her school bus: parents

An investigation is underway in Ponoka, Alta., after a six-year-old girl was caught in the door of her school bus as it drove away.

The incident happened early Monday morning at St. Augustine School.

"The door closed on her backpack. The driver was unaware and proceeded to drive away about 15 feet with her hanging dangling out the door," said Jordan Harden, the girl's father.

The Hardens are crediting the actions of the school’s principal who they say witnessed it all and started banging on the bus to get the driver's attention. Their daughter was not injured.

"It was pretty devastating knowing that I could have lost my daughter yesterday," Amber Harden said.

"Honestly, when I saw her, she was just terrified, [she] told me what had happened, she was almost in tears. It scared the heck out of her… She was already saying she does not want to go on the bus."

The school is part of STAR Catholic School Division, but the bus and its driver are both part of Wolf Creek Public Schools.

The superintendent of the latter provided a statement to CTV News Edmonton, not detailing the incident, but confirming an investigation has begun.

"Although we can not comment at this time about potential outcomes of the investigation, our commitment is to work closely with all involved, including the family, and our transportation department," Tim De Ruyck said.

”Alternative arrangements have been made to ensure that the bus route continues to run while the investigation is ongoing.”

The Hardens believe the driver was still working after the incident until they asked that he be taken off the route.

The fact that an investigation is ongoing gives them some peace of mind but it's not much comfort, they say, for their little girl.

"Yeah well, the fact of the matter is, she doesn’t want to go on the bus," Jordan said.