In a Molotov cocktail attack on a public transport bus, two people lost their lives. For the Minister of the Interior, it is a terrorist act that will not go unpunished. In recent months, Molotov cocktails have become a weapon of demonstration and have been used against the homes of certain political leaders and against the Defense and Security Forces.

Explosive! For the populations of Yarakh, it is a tragedy that will not be erased from their memory. A Tata bus was the victim of a “terrorist attack”, in the words of the Minister of the Interior. Hooded people threw a Molotov cocktail into a minibus full of passengers. This is line 65 Colobane-Kounoune, which is very busy. The toll is heavy: two deaths on the spot. And the explosion was so violent that it was heard everywhere.

According to some witnesses, the perpetrators of the attack were on a scooter. It was the rescue who can among the passengers who were on board the public transport bus. « I saw two completely charred bodies, » said the chief of staff of the mayor of the municipality of Hann-Bel Air, who gave the information. In addition to these two deaths, injuries were recorded. On the video, we can notably see a lady who tries to escape from the smoke, crawling for shelter. And the power of the breath…

Pastef Party Dissolved for « Calling for Insurrection »

For long hours, it was the ballet of ambulances and National Gendarmerie vehicles. Onlookers are kept away from the crime scene. Arriving on the scene a few minutes after the tragedy occurred, the Minister of the Interior, with a closed face, did not mince words to describe what happened as terrorist acts. “Following this attack, this terrorist act that we have just recorded, we were informed by the gendarmes and the firefighters that seven hooded individuals took a vice in a public transport bus, and precisely line 65 which left Kounoune to join Colobane.  On board, there were Senegalese passengers. Their only fault is wanting to get up early to go to work. What a reprehensible act, what a criminal act, what an inhuman act to throw a Molotov cocktail into a bus”, choked Antoine Félix Diome, quite angered by this affair.

Of course, the Minister of the Interior announces that the State will not let this act go unpunished. “I would like to say to those who committed this act that the State will pursue them, will seek them out, will arrest them, before bringing them to justice”, he insisted. And continued: “We are a democratic country where everyone has rights and duties, starting with the government. This is what binds us and what brings us together at the level of the Republic. But to think of imposing oneself by a theory of unique thought, what one wants to impose on other fellow citizens. I would like to tell other citizens that the State will take all the necessary measures,” he reassured.

Placed Under Warrant: Sonko Behind Closed Doors

In recent months, the use of the Molotov Cocktail has become commonplace. The homes of certain state officials as well as the Defense and Security Forces were targeted by demonstrators.

The bus driver: “The projectile landed on my foot…”

“They had the Molotov cocktail in their hands and had taken advantage of the bus stop to throw it inside. The projectile landed on my foot. When I sawit, I automatically got out of the car. Other people then entered through the back door to snatch phones. They got out and fled. I saw them take the bridge and disappear.”

By Justin GOMIS / justin@lequotidien.sn