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| Europe | ||
| Senegalese-Italian Driver Hijacks And Torches School Bus Full Of Children | ||
| 2019-03-21 | ||
| [BBC] A bus carrying 51 schoolchildren has allegedly been hijacked by its driver and set alight near Milan in Italy. The children, some of them tied up, were rescued through smashed windows at the back of the bus and no-one was badly hurt. Fourteen people suffered smoke inhalation. The driver, a 47-year-old Italian citizen originally from Senegal, was arrested. "No-one will survive," the driver was alleged to have said. "It was a miracle, it could have been a massacre," Milan chief prosecutor Francesco Greco was quoted as saying. A teacher who had been on board the bus said the suspect was known to be angry about Italy's migrant policy. Some reports said the man had shouted "stop the deaths in the Mediterranean". HOW THE DRAMA STARTED Two classes of teenagers and their adult escort were being driven from a school in Vailati di Crema to a gym but took a different route on a provincial highway apparently heading for Milan's Linate airport, local reports said. The ordeal then unfolded over the next 40 minutes. When the suspect allegedly began addressing the passengers with a knife, a boy phoned a parent, who alerted the police. It took some time before police tried to intercept the bus. The vehicle rammed into police cars before slowing down. Italian reports said petrol had been sprinkled around the bus but police were able to smash the rear windows and let the passengers off before it burst into flames. Milan prosecutors said they were investigating all possible motives including terrorism. Italy's right-wing Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, reacted with outrage, alleging that the man had a criminal record. Ministry officials are investigating the possibility of annulling the driver's Italian citizenship, the AFP news agency reports. ITALY'S TOUGH STANCE ON MIGRANTS Since coming into power in June, Italy's ruling right-wing League party and populist Five Star Movement have established a strong anti-immigration stance. Located at the frontline of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Europe, Italy has tried to close its ports to boats. On Tuesday, around 50 people were rescued by a charity ship from a rubber boat off the coast of Libya and taken to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. Italian authorities ordered that the ship was seized and launched an investigation into the alleged aiding of clandestine immigration. A decree issued in September makes it easier to deport migrants and take away their citizenship if they commit serious crimes. Earlier this month, around 200,000 people attended an anti-racism march in Milan.
The man, later identified as Ousseynou Sy, was also taken to a local hospital following his arrest where he told officers, “I wanted to avenge the deaths at sea. I’ll commit a massacre in Linate.” Since Salvini closed the borders to pro-migrant transport NGOs last year, the number of drownings in the Mediterranean sea has dropped, according to reports from January of this year.
One of the middle school students described his terror in an interview with La Repubblica TV, his face obscured due to his age. His name was not given. "We were all very afraid because the driver had emptied the gas canister onto the floor (of the bus.) He tied us up and took all the telephones so we could not call the police," the student said. "One of the telephones, belonging to a classmate, fell to the ground, so I pulled off the handcuffs, hurting myself a bit, and went and picked it up. We called the Carabinieri and the police." Authorities said that an adult called an emergency operator, while one of the students called a parent, and they alerted authorities, who set up roadblocks. The bus was intercepted on the outskirts of Milan by three Carabinieri vehicles, which were able to force it into the guardrail, De Marchis said. | ||
| Posted by:Elmerert Hupens2660 |
| #8 "I need to kill people I don't even know to avenge people I don't even know..." And leftists smile, drool and nod... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-03-21 17:54 |
| #7 the driver had said he wanted to get to the runway at Milan’s Linate airport. Likely to crash the burning bus into a plane. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-03-21 15:43 |
| #6 From Deutsche Welle: A boy from the bus said that "[the bus driver] wanted revenge for his daughters" who died at sea while trying to reach Italy, according to a video posted by Agenzia Vista. "He wanted revenge for his three daughters and to kill us," he said. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2019-03-21 15:30 |
| #5 Trying to burn the Italian children Italians don't want to burn... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-03-21 15:23 |
| #4 I'd be wondering why they were headed for that airport.... "A teacher who was with the middle school children was quoted by Ansa news agency as saying that the driver had said he wanted to get to the runway at Milan’s Linate airport." |
| Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2019-03-21 09:26 |
| #3 Italian |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-03-21 09:05 |
| #2 Ah... The rich tapestry of diversity. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2019-03-21 07:27 |
| #1 ...Sounds like a really bad one was just narrowly avoided. If I were the Carabinieri (and I would rock the uniform) I'd be wondering why they were headed for that airport.... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2019-03-21 06:29 |