Schoolgirl who had gone missing found locked inside bus for five hours

A five-year-old girl who was reported missing when she did not return home from school in Queensland was found locked in a school bus for more than five hours.

Alyssa Jade was found on Monday at about 19:00 local time (09:00 GMT) at a bus depot. A cleaner is said to have heard her "banging on the door", police said.

Despite the scare, the girl is said to be in good health.

Her mother Bobbie Langdon said she will take legal action against the bus company.

She wrote on Facebook that her daughter was frightened after the incident in Logan City, the BBC reported.

"Alyssa was located petrified and crying banging on the school bus doors to get out. For five long hours she slept her heat away," Langdon wrote.

"Please parent's time is precious, every parent in the country please hug and kiss your beautiful children tonight and appreciate everything," she added.

Initially Langdon believed that Alyssa had not boarded her Logan Coaches bus but later, after Queensland Police and locals set up patrols to look for her, they found her safe and asleep on the bus.

According to police, the girl had fallen asleep in the back of the bus. This led to no one noticing her and the driver drove the vehicle to the depot and parked it.

"She wasn't in clear view of the driver or other passengers," Detective Inspector Mark White told the BBC.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the incident is a "wake up call" for companies which run school buses.

"If they finish for the day [the drivers] should go and double check that there is no-one in those seats," Palaszczuk told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Logan Coaches spokesman said they too were investigating the incident.