Arriva back in the news

After Wednesday’s accident involving three Arriva buses and in which seven people were seriously injured, the bus service company was back in the news.

A brake system failure in one of its buses led to a small fire when this arrived at the Pembroke Park and Ride, at about 3pm yesterday. There were a number of passengers on the bus but no one was injured. The driver and security officer at the depot put out the fire and the Civil Protection Department was called on site as a precaution.

Soon after, the driver was instructed to drive the bus to the Arriva depot in Marsa but believing matters would be made worse, he refused to do so.

Drivers face financial penalties when buses are damaged.

Meanwhile, one of the passengers injured in Wednesday’s accident and who was interviewed by a news portal said a whole chaos ensued when the bus crashed in Porte des Bombes on Wednesday and the emergency door did not open.

He was hospitalised overnight after having suffered a head injury.

Photograph: Jonathan Borg