In the Qiziltepa district of Uzbekistan's Navoi region, authorities have taken action against a driver who was transporting 17 kindergarten children in a Damas minivan. In addition to the children, there was also one kindergarten employee in the vehicle.

According to the Zo‘r TV channel's program 'Bu kun', the incident was discovered on July 21 in the Vang'ozi mahalla of Qiziltepa district. Preventive patrol inspectors stopped the Damas, which had three children sitting in the front seat.

During the inspection, it was found that the vehicle contained, besides the driver, 17 kindergarten children and one employee. The driver refused to comply with the lawful demands of law enforcement officers, argued loudly, and attempted to leave the scene.

Subsequently, the children were removed from the vehicle, and the driver was dealt with accordingly by traffic police officers. It was reported that some children cried out of fear due to the driver's actions.

In his statement, the driver admitted that around 5:30 PM he was transporting 17 kindergarten children, did not follow passenger transport rules, and endangered the children. 'I illegally loaded 17 children, did not comply with passenger transport rules. I put the children at risk. This will not happen again,' he said.

Earlier, in the Xatirchi district of Navoi region, a driver was caught transporting 20 kindergarten children in a Damas. It was reported that since the beginning of 2026, 34 violations related to transporting kindergarten children have been recorded in Navoi region, mainly in Nurota, Navbahor, and Xatirchi districts.

In particular, in May, a Matiz carrying 14 kindergarten children was involved in a crash in Nurota district. The driver was the head of a family kindergarten without a driver's license. The woman died in the accident, and the children were hospitalized with various injuries.

Source: www.gazeta.uz