The schoolboy had three teeth knocked out and two teeth damaged after he was randomly attacked on the bus in Auckland.
The schoolboy had three teeth knocked out and two teeth damaged after he was randomly attacked on the bus in Auckland.
A woman used a metal rod to attack a 16-year-old boy on an Auckland bus.
The victim lost three teeth and had two more damaged in the attack, which involved the woman yelling racial slurs.
Police are investigating the incident.
A 16-year-old boy schoolboy has been left with facial injuries after a brutal attack by a woman with a steel rod on an Auckland bus.
Only one person intervened in the racially motivated attack about 9am on Friday that resulted in the boy having three teeth knocked out and a further two teeth damaged.
“I was taking the bus to Panmure, and just past Pakuranga Plaza, a woman started verbally abusing me and then immediately started to physically abuse me,” the schoolboy, who asked not to be named, told the Herald.
The woman started yelling racial slurs at the Chinese-New Zealand boy before attacking him with a metal rod, unprovoked.
“I was just listening to music, scrolling my phone, and then it happened.
“She just stood up and hit me.”
The schoolboy has lived in New Zealand for seven years, almost half his life, and said this was the first time he had experienced a racially motivated attack.
The metal rod that was used to attack a young boy on an Auckland bus on Friday. Photo / NZME
“I completely lost three [teeth] and I’ve broken two.”
Data from Auckland Transport shows attacks on bus drivers have more than doubled in the past two years.
While 24 fewer incidents overall were reported last year than in 2022, there were more reports of violence against bus drivers than in the previous year.
If anyone witnessed the incident they can contact police on 105 and quote file number 240628/8342, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.