A four-year-old boy was fatally struck by a bus when he ran into the road while ‘playing chase’ with his brother, an inquest has heard.

Zaahir Jan Feizi was visiting his nan at Margate’s QEQM Hospital when he was struck by a single-decker bus on a zebra crossing near the A&E entrance.

The much-loved little boy from Canterbury was rushed inside but doctors could not save him.

At an inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone this week, the coroner concluded his death was an accident and there was no way the driver could have seen him.

The hearing heard that the Stagecoach bus was travelling at 5mph when the collision happened shortly after 4pm on August 7 last year.

The driver of the bus involved was granted anonymity at the inquest and referred to as Witness A. They said it had just been a ‘normal regular day’ before the tragedy unfolded.

Witness A started work at 8.03am and had two breaks during the day before driving the C Loop, which goes through the QEQM Hospital.

The driver said they were due to finish at 6.49pm, described having had ‘sufficient breaks’ before the collision happened and being ‘very familiar’ with the hospital grounds.

As Witness A came around a corner outside the hospital entrance, they saw an elderly gentleman, named as Mr Abbott, crossing the road and came to a halt.

‘He had a walking stick, and he had come from the car park on the right-hand side of where I was positioned,’ they said.

Witness A described the bus coming to a complete stop, and they waited for him to cross, ‘which took a little while as he looked poorly’.

‘Almost instantly as I pulled away, I heard a young boy screaming to stop,’ the bus driver added. ‘I then felt a bump with the bus and believed I had run something over.’

Witness A stopped the bus and applied the handbrake, then discovered that Zaahir had been hit.

‘I didn’t see him,’ the bus driver told a witness at the scene

They added in a statement: ‘I would have stopped immediately if I saw him running into the road or a hazard I needed to react to. I was told by the gentleman crossing the road there was no way I could have seen him.’

Investigating officer DC Victoria Steward from the serious collision unit told the inquest that officers arrived at the scene four minutes after the crash.

CCTV footage, capturing the entire area covering the entrance and exit of the hospital as well as the road, meant officers could make a decision early on that no criminal offences had been committed.

DC Steward said Zaahir ran from the hospital exit and ‘did not stop as he ran into the road’.

‘At that moment, the bus had just pulled away, and Zaahir struck the front of the bus,’ she added.

Outlining a witness statement provided by Mr Abbott, coroner Sarah Clarke said: ‘He describes turning very quickly as he sees Zaahir, but it happened so quickly there was no chance for anyone to stop him.’

DC Steward added that Mr Abbott described Zaahir trying to dig his feet into the ground to stop himself but was hit by the bus.

Referring to what was seen in the CCTV footage, which was not played in court, she said: ‘We could see as Zaahir ran out there was no way the bus driver would have been able to see him.’

A pathologist ruled Zaahir died from multiple internal injuries.

Concluding, the coroner said she has found ‘no evidence the driver was impaired or distracted in any way’.

‘The evidence does not establish the driver could have avoided the collision,’ she added.

She concluded his death was an accident.

Ms Clarke said: ‘I recognise the conclusion does not bring him back’ adding it was ‘entirely understandable the family will have questions about whether something could have been done differently.’

He was, she said, ‘clearly a much-loved little boy’.

The coroner also said Zaahir’s mum Azaria Green ‘harbours no resentment despite the many things that were said and lost during the past 12 months.’

Ms Green, who attended the inquest, also informed the coroner that the East Kent Hospitals Trust has changed the road markings outside the entrance of QEQM and railings have been provided to prevent it ever happening again.

Zaahir’s mum spoke last year of her ambition to raise enough money to buy her own home so she could bury her son in the garden to help her grieve.

Ms Green said that although Zaahir was born in London, he would describe himself as Afghani, due to his father’s heritage.

A Stagecoach spokesman said: ‘We remain deeply saddened by the tragic death of Zaahir and our thoughts continue to be with his family and everyone affected by his loss.

‘We recognise that the inquest is an important part of establishing the circumstances surrounding this heartbreaking incident, and we will continue to cooperate fully with all relevant authorities.’

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