Hurled rock knocks out bus passenger

Driver Harinder Singh inspects the damage the rock caused to his bus last night. Picture / Martin Sykes

A bus passenger was knocked unconscious last night by a rock hurled through the vehicle's side window.

The woman, thought to be in her 20s, was sitting in Stagecoach bus 243 about 9.20pm on Owairaka Ave, Mt Albert.

The rock shattered the bus safety glass before hitting her.

She regained consciousness within 30 minutes and a St John ambulance took her to Auckland City Hospital with a minor cut to her head.

The incident follows the death of Chris Currie, who was killed when an 8kg concrete slab was thrown through the windscreen of the car he was driving on the Southern Motorway last Friday.

Auckland police Inspector Darroch Todd said that in the light of Mr Currie's death, "this continued reckless behaviour defies belief". It was too early to say whether the incident was a copycat case.

Bus driver Harinder Singh estimated the rock was about 14cm by 8cm. "It was very big ... very dangerous".

He said he was heading towards New Lynn when the rock hit the woman on her forehead.

"I heard the noise, it was very loud, and stopped the bus safely. I opened the door and one passenger went to chase the person," he said. He phoned his boss, who called emergency services.

Mr Todd said a person was seen "disappearing into the darkness", and police dogs were trying to find the person.

Stagecoach's Mt Roskill area manager, Colin Sommerville, said stone-throwing at buses happened about twice a month."It's a concern to us as a bus company and its something that really has to be addressed by police, the community and us as operators."