A Bus Driver Died After Being Attacked By Passengers For Asking Them To Wear Masks

The driver was the victim of "extreme violence," local prosecutors said.

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A French bus driver has died days after being attacked by passengers for asking them to wear masks.

Philippe Monguillot, 59, died Friday, his daughter Marie told AFP. He had previously been declared brain dead, the Guardian reported.

“We decided to let him go. The doctors were in favour and we were as well,” Monguillot told the news outlet.

Monguillot was attacked Sunday by four passengers in the city of Bayonne in southwest France. He had asked three of the passengers to wear masks — which are mandatory on public transportation in France due to the coronavirus pandemic — and a fourth man to show his ticket, according to the Guardian.

Monguillot was the victim of "of extreme violence," Marc Mariée, the deputy public prosecutor of Bayonne, said at a news conference, according to Euronews.

"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," Mariée told reporters.

Two of the men have been charged with attempted murder in the attack, according to France 24. The other two men were charged with non-assistance to a person in danger, and one man was also charged with attempting to hide a suspect, the local prosecutor's office said.

The men charged with attempted murder are 22 and 23 and had prior police records, according to France 24.

On Wednesday, Monguillot's family and thousands of protesters marched from the bus stop where the assault happened in his honor.

"I will fight to the end, I have strength in me, I have almost no more tears," Monguillot's wife, Veronique, said during the march, FR 24 reported. "I'm angry and I'm going to go. I am not afraid, justice is with me. The justice will help me to avenge my husband."

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