9-Year-Old Falls Asleep on Jerusalem Bus, Wakes Up Alone in East Jerusalem

An unusual incident took place in Jerusalem early this week, on the night between Sunday and Monday, when a roughly 9-year-old boy was left alone on a bus after falling asleep during the ride. His family got off the bus without noticing that he was still asleep, and the driver continued to the terminal in the a-Tur neighborhood in the eastern part of the city. When the boy woke up, he found himself far from any familiar area, with no way to contact his family and late at night. 

According to reports, the family was traveling on Extra bus line 68 on its way to the Mount Scopus area. The family members got off in the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood, without noticing that the boy had remained asleep on the bus. 

According to the account the boy gave his family after he was found, the driver woke him by pulling his ear, pointed toward the Arab neighborhood, and told him to walk in a certain direction. He also said that he was let off the bus while crying, confused, and frightened. At this point, this is solely the boy’s account, and the family has not yet filed a formal police complaint.

Extra rejected the boy’s claims. According to a company representative, the driver gently woke the boy after learning that a small child was alone on the bus. The company says the driver even offered to call the police to help him, but the boy said he knew the way and asked to walk. The company said the driver was located and questioned after the incident. 

After the boy got off the bus and began walking, he was spotted by a security officer from Jerusalem’s Main and General Chevra Kadisha, who was on his way to the nearby cemetery. He said he saw a small child standing alone late at night and began speaking with him to understand what had happened. Because the boy did not have a phone, the security officer asked him for his mother’s phone number. The boy was able to remember the number by heart.

According to the security officer, when he called the mother, the first thing she asked was, "Did you find my son?" Shortly afterward, the boy’s brother arrived by car and picked him up from the scene.

By Heaven’s grace, the boy was unharmed, but the security officer said the incident could have ended in disaster. He said that if the boy had not been found in time, he could have gotten lost, been hurt, or ended up in danger late at night in an area unfamiliar to him. He also criticized the driver’s conduct for allowing the child to walk alone: "In a situation like this, he should have involved the police or the transportation company’s dispatch center, and not allowed him to get off the bus alone at night in a hostile area."

Israel Police said that no formal complaint has been filed regarding the incident at this stage. If the family decides to file a complaint, the driver will be summoned for questioning and the circumstances will be examined.