A bus driver took 51 schoolchildren hostage and set the school bus on fire after he doused it in petrol near Milan in Italy.
The bus driver was driving the schoolchildren back from a sporting event.
“No one will survive,” the bus driver was quoted as saying by Italian police.
A teacher who was on the bus said the suspect was angry about Italy’s migrant policy.
Some reports said the bus driver shouted “stop the deaths in the Mediterranean”.
Witnesses said that when the bus driver began addressing the passengers with a knife.
One of the school boy called his parent, who alerted the police which managed to track the bus location.
The bus rammed into police cars before slowing down.
The children were rescued through windows smashed by the police at the back of the bus and no-one was badly hurt.
Some children suffered smoke inhalation. No deaths was reported.
The bus driver arrested is a 47 year old Italian citizen originally from Senegal.
Ousseynou Sy li ha legati e minacciati urlando: "Da qui non esce vivo nessuno!". Ma come si fa??? Poteva essere una strage, fortunatamente tutti salvi i 51 ragazzi: è stato un miracolo. Ascoltate il racconto di questo piccolo eroe! pic.twitter.com/o6VDaQbiAt
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) March 20, 2019
“Ousseynou Sy li ha legati e minacciati urlando: “Da qui non esce vivo nessuno!”. Ma come si fa??? Poteva essere una strage, fortunatamente tutti salvi i 51 ragazzi: è stato un miracolo. Ascoltate il racconto di questo piccolo eroe!” Matteo Salvini tweeted, revealing the name of the bus driver.
Milan prosecutors said they were investigating all possible motives including terrorism.
Italy’s right-wing interior minister, Matteo Salvini, reacted with outrage that a man with a record of driving while under the influence of alcohol could have been allowed to drive a coach full of children.
