A three-year-old girl was found dead after being locked in a school bus and forgotten by the driver.

Tragic youngster Nura Nadia Ma was collected from her home and taken to the nursery school in Pattani, southern Thailand, on Wednesday morning.

But she fell asleep during the school run and when driver Ahama Sanay, 23, unloaded the other kids he did not notice the girl.

Ahama locked the doors and when the toddler woke up she was trapped. Nura battled to free her self but suffocated in the sweltering heat as temperatures outside soared past 35C.

The girl's mother said she arrived at 4pm and stood waiting at the school gates before contacting teachers when her daughter did not appear.

Horrified staff found the youngster in the locked van where she was laid across the seats having passed out with blood coming from her nose.

One shoe was on the floor and her clothes were ruffled suggesting she she struggled to try and escape the locked Toyota minivan, police said.

Officers from the Pattani Police Station tracked down the driver, Ahama, and he was arrested over the girls death outside the Bamrung School.

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