Bus Driver in Havana Threatened with Knife During Public Transit Incident

A bus driver operating the P7 route reported being threatened with a knife by an individual near the Virgen del Camino in Havana. The assailant also damaged one of the bus's doors during the incident. "I was covering the P7 route, around four in the morning. I left the terminal heading to Cotorro with the bus fully loaded. As we approached the Virgen del Camino, shouting erupted, and a fight broke out inside the bus," recounted Yoendri Rivero Sánchez, the assaulted driver, to the local government-run newspaper, Tribuna de La Habana.

"At that moment, about three people surrounded me, and one of the passengers brandished a knife, threatening me, saying, 'stop or die!' I stopped the bus, and immediately, some people got off. When the threatener walked to the back, I closed the doors," he explained.

After a passenger alerted him, Rivero Sánchez discovered that a door had been damaged. He then proceeded to the Ninth Police Unit with the remaining passengers, as it was the closest station. "There, I explained the situation, and the police ordered the passengers to disembark because the bus couldn't continue its journey. While examining the bus at the depot, I found the knife you see here, which I assume belongs to one of the same individuals involved in the altercation," he stated.

The driver expressed that he needs emotional recovery after the ordeal and is reconsidering working during the early morning hours. "Incidents like these don't happen during the day. It all transpired during the night shift, particularly on weekends," he noted.

According to the report, the bus has been repaired, but it missed its morning rounds, resulting in two fewer trips, equivalent to four fewer journeys. Lázaro González Mena, the director of the Cotorro Bus Terminal, acknowledged an increase in such incidents "mainly on weekends" in recent times.

"Currently, drivers have to operate alone to provide service, which wasn't the case before," he lamented. In addition, Joel Martínez González, the director of Transportation for the Cotorro municipality, confirmed that these events have become more frequent. He mentioned that there have been stoning incidents, like with the A42 bus, where those responsible were apprehended, as well as similar occurrences with two P7 buses, whose perpetrators were also caught.

Amidst rising crime and social discontent stemming from Cuba's ongoing crisis, vandalism on Havana's public buses has become increasingly common.

Recent Incidents

In April, the P13 route's bus number 341 was stoned during its nighttime journey. The violent incident took place in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality and shattered all the windows on the vehicle's right side.

Around the same time, bus number 5248 on route 37 was also attacked with stones. Earlier, in the early hours of April 19, a vehicle on the P11 route was stoned during its night service.

Days before that, a bus on route 23, identified as number 5229, was stoned near the Fábrica Park while en route from the Lawton Terminal in the Diez de Octubre municipality. On this occasion, the state company reported that, thanks to the intervention of the public and the National Revolutionary Police (PNR), several suspects were detained.

In February, a P13 route driver was brutally assaulted by two passengers at Parque de La Fraternidad, resulting in a head injury that required medical attention. In January, a group of students threw stones at a P11 route bus after an argument with the driver.