Samastipur, Nov. 20: The three-day children’s film festival organised by the state information and public relations department ended abruptly today, a day after a schoolboy died in an accident yesterday outside the cinema where the fest was going on.

The boy, Akash, a Class VI student, was hit by a school bus of Holy Cross, near Laxmi Cinema Hall on Magardahi road under Town police station.

Akash (12) was leaving the cinema premises after attending the fest when the bus driver, in an attempt to reverse the vehicle, pinned the boy against the theatre wall. Akash was rushed to Samastipur Sadar Hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.

After the boy’s death, the film fest organisers had to face the ire of an irate mob. Eventually, the movies scheduled to be screened today were cancelled and the fest was called off in two days.

Several guardians and onlookers assembled in front of the cinema yesterday and damaged the bus but the driver managed to flee the spot. The mob also disrupted transport services on Samastipur-Darbhanga main road for several hours.

The district administrat-ion managed to resume traffic movement only after assuring the protesters that immediate action will be taken against the bus driver.

A case in this connection has been registered at the Town police station.

District public relations officer Dilip Kumar Dev told The Telegraph: “We had organised the film fest for children with a lot of enthusiasm but the death of the child at the venue cast a shadow over the remaining programme. We had even arranged police security to control the crowd but despite our best efforts, the accident occurred outside the venue.”