Senegalese Migrant Sets Bus Full of Schoolkids On Fire to Protest Italy Closing Its Borders to Refugees

A Senegalese migrant set a bus full of children on fire in Italy as part of a pro-refugee protest against the deaths of asylum seekers attempting to reach Europe.

The bus was taking a group of school children home after outdoor activities in Crema before the driver, 47-year-old Ousseynou Sy, decided to change course.

After the migrant threatened passengers with a knife, one of the children managed to call their parents, who in turn alerted the police.

Authorities then set up road blocks in an effort to stop the driver, who then proceeded to ram the bus into them.

After losing control of the bus, Sy stopped the vehicle, poured gasoline on it and set it ablaze.

Un senegalese è stato arrestato dopo aver sequestrato uno scuolabus con 51 studenti e dato fuoco al mezzo. L’uomo, italiano dal 2004 e con precedenti per ubriachezza e violenza sessuale, voleva uccidersi.“La faccio finita, vanno fermate le morti in mare". Nessun ragazzo ferito pic.twitter.com/i1adiwNXJn

— Giank-deR 🇮🇹 (@GiancarloDeRisi) March 20, 2019

All the passengers were able to escape through the back door and windows, although 12 children subsequently had to be taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.

The migrant said that he wanted to kill himself and potentially others as a protest to “stop deaths in the Mediterranean Sea,” referring to asylum seekers who have drowned in an attempt to illegally enter Europe. He also reportedly threatened to “carry out a massacre”.

“He tied us to the floor covered in petrol and took our phones away so we couldn’t call the police,” one of the 51 children held hostage in a school bus set on fire by a driver of Senegalese origin who wanted revenge for migrants “dying at sea”. pic.twitter.com/RtLXSs8pdU

— Alessandra (@alessabocchi) March 20, 2019

These media outlets spread the false narrative that Italy’s new gvm is to blame for migrants dying at sea when the opposite is true: deaths have gone down. This was done by @stephensackur on @BBCWorld: “You have blood on your hands”. No, YOU have these kids lives on your hands.

— Alessandra (@alessabocchi) March 20, 2019

Video footage of the attack where the Senegalese man attempted to set a bus full of kidnapped children on fire. Video is not graphic but you can hear the screams. I’m surprised that such a brazen hijacking in Italy is not getting wall-to-wall coverage. pic.twitter.com/1DFaHYJdeJ

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 20, 2019

Driver sets schoolbus on fire near #Milan, 14 intoxicated#Italy pic.twitter.com/kCcxdlfxsa

— Ruptly (@Ruptly) March 20, 2019

I can’t imagine why a country wouldn’t want more fine people just like this!?! https://t.co/FEiYGP5s8M

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 20, 2019