In total, 57 buses from the same public transport company, Urbi Mobilidades, were attacked and vandalized on Thursday night (15), in several regions of the Federal District. The circumstances of the attacks are still being investigated.
According to the District Public Security Secretariat, the first attacks were reported to security forces around 8pm yesterday. “Management of the incident continued until approximately 11pm, with continuous monitoring of the situation and adoption of appropriate measures.”
In a statement to the Civil Police, drivers and conductors reported that the buses were hit by stones, marbles and other objects that broke windows and hit the bodies of the vehicles.
“We were surprised by the criminal and violent action against public transport”, declared the district secretary of Transport and Mobility, Zeno Gonçalves. According to him, the attack on Urbi buses was “an orchestrated action” that affected users and could have caused a tragedy.
“We understand that this is a retaliatory action, due to the dismissal of three company employees and that it may be linked to a dissident group from the Bus Workers Union”, added the secretary, guaranteeing that buses from the reserve fleet were used this morning, so that, according to him, users were not affected.
The report from Brazil Agency was unable to contact representatives from the Land Transport Workers Union of the Federal District (Sittrater), nor from Urbi Mobilidades
According to the secretariat, no one had yet been arrested as of 3pm today, but suspects involved in the action had been identified.. Preventively, the Military Police intensified patrolling in the vicinity of Urbi Mobilidades garages, especially in the Recanto das Emas and Samambaia administrative regions, where the company’s vehicles are usually collected.
Furthermore, the secretariat established a crisis management group together with the Civil and Military police; Secretariat of Transport and Mobility; district intelligence services and with Urbi representatives.
