Driver sets bus with schoolchildren onboard ablaze in Italy

An Italian bus driver of Senegalese origin on Wednesday tried to set fire to a bus here with 51 people on board.

He has since been arrested, Sputnik reported while quoting local media.

The driver has been identified as 47-year-old Ousseynou Sy and it has been established that he has a criminal record.

No injuries have been reported, as local authorities revealed that most of the passengers were children, who were evacuated safely. However, 12 children and two adults were rushed to the hospital with symptoms of smoke poisoning.

The arrested driver was taking the school children back home from outdoor activities in Crema when he changed the bus' route. He announced that he wanted to kill himself to "stop deaths in the Mediterranean Sea" before threatening the passengers with a knife.

Reports suggest that one of the children managed to call their parents, following which emergency services and the police were alerted. The driver tried to ram into the roadblocks set up by the police but failed after which the bus came to a halt.

Sy then went on to douse the insides of the bus with gasoline before igniting it. The passengers were rescued through the windows and the back door.

Further information is awaited.