Bus services on route 36 in Antwerp are not running today (Tuesday 17 June) following Monday afternoon’s knife attack in which one person was killed and another person injured. The person that was killed was a 76-year-old man, another passenger on the bus was injured when he tried to intervene. He required hospital treatment as did the driver of the bus, who was treated for shock.
Both drivers that work for the Flemish public transport company De Lijn and local residents are shocked by Monday afternoon’s events.
De Lijn’s Annelies Meynaerts told VRT News that ‘We were horrified to hear the news yesterday. It is shocking is that such an act of aggression resulting in a falality could have happened on a bus. The victim is believed chosen at random and was not known to his killer.
12-year-old Intissa lives near to where Monday’s incident took place. She told VRT News that "I feel very bad, because that man hadn’t done anything. ‘Sometimes I feel unsafe here”.
Another person that often takes the bus on Antwerp’s Left Bank said that he is shocked “It makes you think about how safe is the bus route that you take and start thinking about alternative forms of transport".
Psychological help for drivers on route 36
The driver of the bus where the stabbing took place was taken to hospital with shock. Ms Meynaerts says that De Lijn is collaborating with the subcontractor that runs services on route 36 to see how it can help the driver and his colleagues by proving practical support and psychological help where necessary. She added that such was the impact on Monday’s stabbing on the drivers that run route 36 that the service has been cancelled today.
Local resident Wim Wuyts told VRT News that there have been previous incidents involving buses on route 36, for example in the past youths have pelted the 36 bus with stones. "It's a problem line with a lot of aggression, noise arguing. No one would want something like this to happen, but it has happened nonetheless. I think measures should be taken to discourage people from committing violent acts on that line." Mr Wuyts adds that he has every sympathy for the drivers not working today.
De Lijn’s Annelies Meynaerts says that "In the past a lot of action was taken to deal with incidents on this route. However, yesterday's incident was of a completely different order. It has to be seen separately from what has happened previously on route 36".
Talks on additional security measures
The socialist trade union ABVV is asking De Lijn to deploy security staff on route 36. However, De Lijn says that it is still to early to say what additional measures will be taken to ensure the safety of passengers and drivers on route 36 and elsewhere on the network.
The union also feels that CCTV footage on problem routes should be sent live to De Lijn’s dispatch centre. He too, De Lijn will not comment for the moment.
A 38-year-old man was apprehended at the scene and is currently being question. Meanwhile, the investigation into the circumstances of the knife attack is still ongoing.