Italy: School bus driver sets light to vehicle in protest at treatment of migrants
A bus carrying 51 school children has allegedly been hijacked by its driver and set alight near Milan in Italy.
Italian media reported on Wednesday, a 47-year-old school bus driver in Milan had asked teenagers onboard to get out of his vehicle before he set light to it in protest at the treatment of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean.
Fire services arrived in force to put out the blaze. No one was injured but twelve teenagers were taken to hospital with intoxication, hospital sources said.
The bus driver, believed to be Senegalese with Italian citizenship, was arrested at the scene. Armed police patrolled the area.
Earlier in the day the Italian parliament blocked prosecutors from pursuing an investigation into Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini for abuse of power and kidnapping migrants.
Salvini, leader of the right-wing League party, has followed a “closed ports” crackdown on illegal immigration since he formed a ruling coalition last year with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.
