MILAN—A bus driver in northern Italy abducted 51 children and their chaperones Wednesday, threatening them over a 40-minute ordeal before setting the vehicle on fire when he was stopped by a Carabinieri blockade. Officers broke glass windows in the back of the bus and got all the passengers to safety without serious injury before the flames destroyed the vehicle, authorities said. Italian police rescued some 50 children and their chaperones on Wednesday after their bus driver threatened to torch their school bus which he doused with petrol, the authorities said. “We were all very afraid because the driver had emptied the gas canister onto the floor (of the bus.) Sky TG24 said that the driver had worked for the bus company for 15 years without any employment-related issues.

Source: thestar March 21, 2019 02:37 UTC