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Date Published: 04/05/2021
ARCHIVED - Bus driver assaulted with knife for asking passenger to wear mask in Basque Country
A bus driver in the Basque Country was assaulted with a knife by a passenger who refused to wear a mask on board the bus.
Throughout the covid pandemic masks have continued to be one of the most conflictive elements, and disagreements over the wearing of masks have been the source of significant discussion and disagreement.
Although it is obligatory to wear a facemask in a public space, there are still many incidences in which members of the public refuse to comply and one of these occurred in the Basque Country this weekend.
The incident took place at 8.30 am on the Bilbao-Eibar line when the driver picked up a passenger at the Galdakao stop.
The Bikaibus driver was allegedly assaulted when he told a passenger about to board the bus to put on a mask, an order which the would-be passenger found offensive and threatened the driver with a knife.
The ELA union has warned that attacks on its drivers had increased and claimed bodies running the service, Avanza Durangaldea SA and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, were not doing enough to protect them.
The union claimed their drivers were working in a “climate of defencelessness and increased situations of tension,” and are planning a protest outside the Bizkaia Provincial Council in Bilbao on Thursday, May 6.
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