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Fight

Passengers terrified as brawl breaks out on Dublin bus

Dublin Bus said its driver, who activated the panic alarm and then exited the bus, followed proper procedures.

Updated 10pm

DUBLIN BUS HAS said one of its drivers followed the proper procedures in dealing with a brawl which broke out on the 66N bus last month.

Footage from the incident, seen by TheJournal.ie, shows a number of passengers shouting at, pushing and striking one another.

One passenger told us one man on the bus started the trouble:

He sat down beside and started nudging me, I ignored him at first before asking the man to stop. He shouted abuse at me, stood up and gave other passengers abuse. He then punched a man and a mass brawl ensued.

The man, who was not involved in the fighting himself, claimed the driver stopped the bus on the quays, activated the panic alarm and “abandoned the bus without opening the doors for passengers to escape”.

According to the passenger the heated fight lasted around eight minutes and the other passengers on the bus were unable to exit the vehicle until gardaí arrived.

However Maria Payne, a spokesperson for Dublin Bus said CCTV shows the front doors were in fact open, though the central doors were closed as that was where the fight was happening.

In response to a query from TheJournal.ie, Dublin bus said all of its employees are fully trained in procedures for dealing with disorderly behaviour on board.

Each vehicle is also equipped with a radio which allows immediate contact to the Central Control Centre. This means that the driver has immediate contact to a team of Dublin Bus Inspectors should assistance be required in any given situation. In this instance the driver followed procedures which included contacting our control centre team who is turn contacted An Garda Síochána for assistance

Dublin Bus has provided gardaí with CCTV footage of the incident. The company also said it had been in direct contact with one customer who complained about the incident.

- With reporting by Michelle Hennessy.

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