Coronavirus: French bus driver dies after assault over face masks

Philippe Monguillot was viciously attacked after confronting a group who refused to wear face masks

Veronique Monguillot, wife of bus driver Philippe Monguillot, declared brain dead after being attacked for refusing to let aboard a group of people who were not wearing face masks, holds a picture of her husband during a white march in Bayonne, southwestern France, on July 8, 2020. Four men set upon 59-year-old Philippe Monguillot in the southwestern town of Bayonne on July 5 after he asked three of them to wear masks and tried to check another man's ticket. The other two men have been charged with non-assistance to a person in danger and one has also been charged with attempting to hide a suspect, the local prosecutor's office said. / AFP / GAIZKA IROZ
Powered by automated translation

A French bus driver has died after he was kicked and punched in the head for asking passengers to wear face masks in line with Covid-19 rules.

Philippe Monguillot, 59, was left brain-dead after the attack last Sunday in the town of Bayonne and died on Friday after his family switched off his life-support system, daughter Marie said.

"We decided to let him go. The doctors were in favour and we were as well," she told AFP.

Police have charged five people over the attack including two – aged 22 and 23 – for attempted murder. Prosecutor Jerome Bourrier said he would ask for the latter charges to be upgraded after Monguillot’s death.

Two other people have been charged for failing to assist a person in danger and another for attempting to hide a suspect.

Prosecutors previously said the group was known in Bayonne for taking drugs and drinking alcohol.

France’s recently appointed prime minister Jean Castex led tributes to Monguillot, describing the assault as “cowardly”.

"The Republic recognises him as an exemplary citizen and will not forget him. The law will punish the perpetrators of this despicable crime," he tweeted.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who was to meet Bayonne’s bus drivers on Saturday to discuss safety measures, said the attack was an “abhorrent act”.

"The coward responsible must not go unpunished," he said.

Local bus drivers used their right to refuse to work in the aftermath of the attack but will resume on Monday under reinforced security.

Bus drivers of the public transport network of Bayonne, southwestern France, waits for the visit of French Junior Transports Minister on July 7, 2020, a day after one of them was declared brain dead after being attacked for refusing to let aboard passengers without face masks in line with rules imposed to combat the coronavirus. A police source in Bayonne, near the ritzy Atlantic resort of Biarritz said five people were now in custody over the incident on July 5 evening. / AFP / GAIZKA IROZ
Bus drivers of the public transport network of Bayonne. AFP

Monguillot's family had organised a silent march in his honour on Wednesday, departing from the bus stop where the assault took place.

On Tuesday, assistant prosecutor Marc Mariee told a press conference that the attack had been “extremely violent”.

"There were insults and then shoving. The bus driver was pushed out of the bus. Two individuals then violently kicked and punched the upper part of his body, including his head,” he said.

epa08535396 People leave flowers as thousands of people participate in a white march as a tribute to French bus driver Philippe Monguillot in Bayonne, southwestern France, 08 July 2020. Philippe Monguillot has been declared brain dead after being attacked for refusing to let aboard his bus a group of people who were not wearing face masks on 05 July.  EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG
Flowers were left as thousands of people participated in a white march as a tribute to the bus driver. EPA

Earlier this week Monguillot’s wife Veronique said he had been due to retire in a year and the couple were going to buy a motor home in September. She said she was “living in a nightmare”.

Face masks remain mandatory on public transport in France to slow the Covid-19 outbreak, which has claimed nearly 30,000 lives in the country.