He asked her to stop smoking. A Marseille bus driver was violently hit with an object such as a baseball bat this Thursday shortly before 7 p.m. by a passenger who was smoking on board, indicates a press release from the RTM (Régie des transports marseillais). Seriously injured, he was taken unconscious to hospital with severe head trauma. However, his vital prognosis is not in jeopardy.
An investigation was opened to find the perpetrator of this attack which occurred at the terminus of bus line 91, in the “Caillols” district, located to the east of the city, continues the RTM.
Video surveillance available
Having boarded five stops before the terminus, “the gentleman was a little bit virulent but nothing more, and arriving at the terminus, he presented himself in front of the driver, hit him very heavily on the skull, chest, driver fell unconscious and he was hit while he was unconscious once again,” added Catherine Pila, president of the RTM, referring to “terribly shocking” video surveillance images.
In solidarity with the victim, all bus drivers in the Marseille networks, but also in Allauch and Plan-de-Cuques, two municipalities in the eastern suburbs of Marseille, as well as tram drivers, stopped working Thursday evening. Friday morning, traffic resumed normally on the Marseille network and a reinforced police presence was put in place on line 91 and the surrounding area.
The terminus of line 91 is at a psychiatric hospital, without a link having been established with the profile of the attacker, who is still being sought.