The Education Ministry has ordered an investigation into reports that a three-year-old girl was forgotten on a school minibus.

According to Lovin Malta, the girl spent around three hours locked into a garage.

The girl’s mother raised the alarm after learning that her daughter had not made it to the Klabb 3-16 premises in Hamrun after school.

The girl, named as Marija, was left on a minibus that forms part of government-provided free transport. She had just finished her second day of school at the Pieta` primary.

Lovin Malta reported that no supervisor was aboard the minibus. It said the bus driver denied having left the child alone and claimed that. The girl was noted to be on the minibus when it arrived back in Pieta` and she was promptly taken to the after-school club, he said.

The Education Ministry told Times of Malta that it was not aware of the incident but said the minister “gave instructions to the management to investigate the matter and take all necessary actions, even why there was no supervisor, as should be.”

In a statement, the ministry said the investigation board is composed of former judge Philip Sciberras, former police assistant commissioner Josie Brincat, and former education ministry direxctor Salvina Muscat.

The operator has also been notified to take the concerned driver out of the free transport scheme.