Spanish student (17) dies during school trip in Belgium

Mario Conesa Bayo, a 17-year-old from Zaragoza, Spain, was found dead at the foot of a staircase in a Hasselt hotel on 14 March 2022.

He was on a school trip with his class as part of an exchange project in Belgium, but had been feeling unwell from the start. His parents claim that the accompanying teachers left him to his fate.

The young man complained to his parents via text message about having a fever and went to rest in his hotel room while his classmates and teachers went to dinner in the centre of Hasselt. He had been given paracetamol and, according to the teachers, was "sound asleep." But when the group returned later, Mario was found dead at the foot of the hotel's stairs.

'No money, but justice'

CCTV footage from the hotel shows 17-year-old Mario, without glasses, shoes, or phone, bewilderedly searching for his classmates. "He seemed panicked," says his father Avelino. "He was sick and alone. If someone had stayed with him, he would still be alive today." The parents therefore want it recognised that the teachers made a mistake. That's why Mario's parents and sister have been legally battling the Department of Education of the government of Aragon, which is responsible for the school, for three years. Meanwhile, the Spanish government has awarded the family compensation and apologised, but the bereaved want the teachers to be explicitly blamed.

(FVDV - Source: Sudinfo - Image: ©Unsplash)