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© Photo from lizaalert.orgJenya Melnikova
A schoolgirl from a Moscow suburb had to spend seven hours in freezing - 10 C (14 F) weather, after she was reportedly turfed off a bus because she didn't have the fare. The driver is now facing criminal charges for leaving a child in danger.

Nine year-old Zhenya Melnikova left her music lessons at a Moscow art school at 4 pm on Monday. When 5 hours later she was still not home her parents reported her missing to the police.

Officers joined by volunteers searched for the girl until midnight when she was eventually found at a railway station.

The girl told police she got on a shuttle bus after school. For some reason, which is not yet clear, the girl didn't have with her the 40 roubles (US$1.30) her mother usually gave her to pay the fare, nor a mobile phone. Despite Zhenya's young age and the freezing cold outside, the driver allegedly ordered the child to get off.

She had to walk for 7 hours to reach a railway station where she was spotted by a security guard, who called the police.

Russia's Investigative Committee promptly opened a criminal case against the driver.

"We will by all means find the scoundrel and will hold him liable for leaving a child in danger according to article 125 of the Russian Criminal Code," said the Committee's Spokesman Vladimir Markin in his twitter @VladimirMarkin.

Life News reports the driver has been detained, and also cites an unknown source saying the driver put the child off the bus near a traffic police office, but the child might have been too shy to go there and ask for help.

The police is not yet commenting on the situation saying they are still checking the information.

It's not the first case of its kind in Russia. In December 2012 in the Siberian city of Barnaul a disabled man spent twelve hours in -40 C (-40F). He lost his fingers and died three months later from a blood clot. A policeman who refused to help the man is now facing five years behind bars.

In October 2011 a schoolboy in Nizhny Novgorod was put off a bus because he didn't have his bus pass with him. The boy died that same day on his way home after being hit by a train.

In January 2013, in Kirov another 9-year-old was taken off a bus. The boy did have money to pay the bus fare, but refused to pay for the heavy school bag he had with him. It was -25 C (-13 F) outside and the child fell seriously ill. The conductor who ordered the boy off the bus faced "beating" charges.

A week after that, an 11-year-old in Bratsk was forced off a bus after he was mistakenly accused of using a fake bus pass.