Motorista de ônibus morto por passageiros que recusavam usar máscara

ESSA É DE JULHO DESTE ANO

French bus driver dies following attack by passengers who refused to wear masks

Philippe Monguillot, 59, died in hospital on Friday after doctors previously declared him brain dead

A French bus driver who was left brain-dead from a brutal assault on July 5 after he ordered a group of passengers to either wear masks or get off the bus, has died. Philippe Monguillot, 58, died in hospital last Friday. His daughter Marie said, “We decided to let him go. The doctors were in favour and we were as well.”

According to police accounts, the driver was attacked by one or multiple passengers at a stop. He had told one passenger trying to get on the bus that he would not be allowed on without wearing a mask, as required by law on public transport. At the same stop he reportedly told three other passengers on the bus that they would have to get off if they did not put on masks. Two men, aged 22 and 23, have been charged with murder, two others with non-assistance to a person in danger and another with attempting to hide a suspect, the local prosecutor’s office said.

On Monday, the bus drivers at Chronoplus, where Monguillot worked, announced that they were on strike until after Monguillot’s funeral service. Chronoplus serves bus routes in Bayonne, Anglet and Biarritz, a sea-side resort on the south-west Atlantic coast of France. Routes in all three areas were stopped' The drivers are demanding greater protection.

The bus unions met with Chronoplus management on Monday evening, and are seeking to reach a deal to end the strike and return drivers to work. On July 7, Macron administration’s minister for transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, travelled to Bayonne and spoke with drivers, proclaiming the government’s grief at the tragic incident. This is seen by many as cynical as they believe the Macron administration’s policies - including initially denying the pandemic would reach France; not having a testing infrastructure in place; and declaring the wearing of masks unnecessary - are directly responsible for tens of thousands of deaths throughout the pandemic.