SAN SALVADOR – A driver suffered burns when presumed gangmembers set fire to an intercity bus, the 19th vehicle burned in similar attacks this year, the local press reported in this capital on Sunday.
The bus, which departed from the town of Armenia in western El Salvador and was en route to San Salvador, was set on fire by five boys between 14 and 16 years old, apparently members of a gang, who doused it with gasoline and made the passengers disembark.
The driver remained inside the vehicle and, as the daily Diario de Hoy reported, only managed to escape the burning bus “by a miracle,” although he suffered burns on his head, arms and legs.
According to the president of the Fecoatrans transport businessmen’s federation, Catalino Miranda, this year 19 passenger vehicles have been burned by alleged gangmembers who extort so-called “dues” or protection fees from the bus drivers for allowing them to ply their routes unmolested.
One press version said that so far this year, 150 people have been killed in attacks on public transport vehicles, including passengers, drivers, ticket takers and vehicle owners.
Source: laht.com/
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