Bus driver was assaulted in San Gwann ‘without any provocation’

A bus driver who was assaulted in San Gwann on Friday did not provoke his assailant, Malta Public Transport said, citing CCTV footage.

Mobile phone footage uploaded to Facebook on Friday showed a man attacking the driver outside his bus, which he was forced to stop in the middle of a roundabout in San Gwann. The assailant has since been identified as a 28-year-old from Qormi and police are investigating the case.

The assailant had originally been reported as a bus passenger, but CCTV footage released by Malta Public Transport shows that he had originally grabbed the driver's face through the bus window, with the result that the driver’s glasses ended up on the road.

MPT added that while the driver was making a phone-call to report the incident, he was pulled out of the bus by his aggressor.

“We are shocked by this vicious attack on one of our drivers,” MPT general manager Konrad Pule said. “We condemn this incident unreservedly and we are offering our driver all the support that he needs. We are taking this incident very seriously and we will provide all the necessary information and support to the police to take this case further.”