In the Khojaabad district of Andijan region, a driver of a private kindergarten caused a traffic accident while transporting 21 children in a Tracker vehicle. According to court documents, the incident occurred on the morning of February 21, 2026. On that day, driver I.A. was taking 21 underage pupils of a private preschool institution to the kindergarten in her Tracker car.
The court noted that the driver grossly violated several requirements of traffic rules. Specifically, she was driving a vehicle not designed for transporting children, with an excess number of passengers, without a mandatory escort and special signs for a group of children, and exceeding the technical capacity of the vehicle. During the ride, the driver lost control and crashed into a concrete pillar on the roadside. As a result, 6-year-old M.Kh. suffered severe injuries and died in the hospital. Seven other children received light and moderate injuries.
At the court hearing, Irodakhon Abdirazakova pleaded guilty. She stated that the kindergarten was officially registered under another person's name, but she used it together with her partner. "The kindergarten did not have separate transport to bring children from home. To make it convenient for parents, I brought them in my own car and then took them back home," she said in court.
The defendant also explained how the accident happened: "A car passed me on the left at high speed and got very close to my vehicle. I got scared and inadvertently turned the steering wheel to the right. The car went off the road, and I completely lost control and hit a concrete pillar." She added, "I put 21 children in the car, including the front, rear seats, and even the trunk. I regret what I did."
The defendant informed the court that she had provided financial assistance for the funeral of the deceased and that she is a Group II disabled person, asking for leniency. During the trial, legal representatives of the victims confirmed that their children were taken to the kindergarten daily by I.A. The mother of the deceased girl said her daughter spent four days in intensive care before dying. However, she and other parents of the victims stated they had no material or moral claims against the defendant, as damages were compensated, and asked for legal leniency.
The court found I.A. guilty under Part 2 of Article 266 of the Criminal Code (Violation of traffic safety or vehicle operation rules resulting in death). In sentencing, the court took into account her gender, guilty plea, sincere remorse, no prior criminal record, partial compensation for damages, absence of claims from victims, and that the crime was committed through negligence, applying Article 57 (Imposition of a lighter sentence). Consequently, the court sentenced her to 3 years of restriction of liberty with a complete ban on leaving her home for any reason and deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for 2 years. Additionally, she was ordered not to change her place of residence without permission from the supervisory authority and not to leave the Andijan region.
Transporting kindergarten children in violation of safety rules in 4-7-seat cars is widespread in Uzbekistan. In May, it was reported that a Matiz carrying 14 kindergarten children crashed in the Nurata district. The driver was the head of a family kindergarten who did not have a driver's license. The woman died in the accident, and children were taken to the hospital with various injuries. Following this, the traffic police identified 125 cases of overloading children in vehicles from May 1-8. According to Zoir Yoldoshev, head of the department's information service, in some cases, up to 25-28 children were transported in Damas vehicles and up to 18 in Spark cars.
It should be noted that despite regular reports and warnings about the severe consequences of such violations and ongoing control measures, cases of transporting children beyond capacity, endangering their lives, continue to occur frequently on the roads.
Source: www.gazeta.uz