'Lost' bus driver causes child panic

NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A school bus driver in New York says he and several of his young passengers were missing for hours because he "got lost."

The New York Post said Thursday bus driver Joseph Gray's alleged problems with coordination caused a major panic among the parents of the Achievement First charter school students Tuesday.

Madinat Koroma said her 5-year-old daughter, Victoria, offered a conflicting report of what happened during the students' bus ride home.

"Anything could have happened," Koroma said. "She said the driver kept driving around and looking at people."

"It was terrible," the concerned parent added.

Yet Gray maintains that the hours he and the children were missing were simply a misunderstanding caused by his own confusion.

"I got lost," said Gray, who had been a bus driver for seven years.

Despite his assurances, Koroma told the Post she would be personally picking her child up from school from now on.