Two men charged over brutal assault that left French bus driver brain-dead
- The men attacked bus driver Philippe Monguillot after he refused to let in a group for not wearing face masks
- The assault prompted an outpouring of indignation by Monguillot’s colleagues, many of whom are refusing to work until his funeral
Four men set upon Philippe Monguillot, 59, in the southwestern town of Bayonne on Sunday after he asked three of them to wear masks and tried to check another man’s ticket.
The other two men have been charged with non-assistance to a person in danger and one has also been charged with attempting to hide a suspect, the local prosecutor’s office said.
The four men made a run for it after the brutal assault and hid in one of the men’s flat, it added. The two men charged with attempted murder are aged 22 to 23 and have police records.
Assistant prosecutor Marc Mariee on Tuesday denounced it as an “extremely violent” attack after requesting that charges be filed.
“There were insults and then shoving. The bus driver was pushed out of the bus. Two individuals then violently kicked and punched the upper part of his body, including his head,” he told a press conference.