A violent incident erupted on a public bus in Italy on Tuesday afternoon when two foreign teenage girls attacked an Italian passenger for eating a sandwich during Ramadan.
The assault escalated when the driver intervened, resulting in facial injuries and broken glasses for the 52-year-old employee of Arriva Italia.
According to La Provincia, the altercation began around 1:20 p.m. on the G-line bus between Cremona and Spinadesco. The two girls reportedly confronted an Italian girl at the back of the bus, yelling at her, “You bitch! You can’t eat, it’s Ramadan,” before physically attacking her.
Passengers screamed for help, prompting the driver to stop at a designated stop on Via Milano. He opened the doors and demanded that the assailants leave. However, rather than exiting peacefully, the girls continued their assault, striking the Italian girl once more.
As the driver stepped outside to defuse the situation, the attackers turned on him. “One of the girls punched me in the stomach, and the other broke my glasses and scratched my face,” he said.
The driver managed to call the police who arrived swiftly but the perpetrators had already fled the scene.
The injured driver continued his route to Spinadesco before returning to the depot, where a colleague took over his shift. He was then taken to the emergency room at Maggiore Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with facial trauma, prescribed five days of medical rest, and declared him unfit for work for two days. A CT scan was performed due to swelling under his eye.
The driver plans to file a formal criminal complaint with the carabinieri. He also noted that the Italian girl who was slapped had visible facial bruising and may also file a report.
“Something like this has never happened to me before. I’ve come close, but never this bad,” the driver said. “It’s always the same group — minors, and unfortunately, as much as I hate to say it, they are non-EU citizens.”
The driver recalled another incident about a month and a half ago when he was verbally threatened by a group of migrant minors. “They called me a bastard, said they’d break my face. I called the police, and they took them away, but they always come back.”
The attack has reignited concerns among bus drivers, who are demanding stronger safety measures on public transport. Many drivers report facing daily harassment and violence, calling for immediate action to protect transport workers from escalating aggression on the job.
It’s a similar story for all public transport employees. Remix News previously reported back in November last year how violence against staff had reached critical levels following the third violent attack on a train conductor that month alone.
On the regional railway line between Porretta and Pianoro in the province of Bologna, a train attendant was severely beaten by a passenger of North African origin when asked to present a ticket. The conductor suffered serious injuries, including the loss of two teeth, and the attack disrupted multiple train routes as emergency services responded.
Similarly, a conductor on a train in Genoa was stabbed by two North African migrants during a routine ticket inspection. One attacker used a knife to stab the conductor twice, leaving him in serious condition. This incident prompted six rail unions to declare a nationwide strike, citing “violent and repeated attacks” against their workers.
