Belgium: Elderly Man Stabbed to Death on Bus

Hat tip Remix (Hungary) and Gates of Vienna

Suspect being arrested

-VRT (Be)

Two days ago, in Antwerp, Belgium, a 76-year-old bus passenger was stabbed in the throat and killed. The alleged perpetrator (38)  was another (male) passenger. He was quickly taken into custody at the scene. There is no known motive for the attack, which appears at this point to be random.

There are no further details regarding the stabber other than the video showing his arrest by police. The video shows him walking toward police with his hands in the air and lying on the ground per the commands of police.

The below article in De Standaard is translated from Dutch by Fousesquawek. In a separate article, the area of the incident is described as a problem area where buses are often pelted with rocks and even shot at. 

Antwerp

Man dies in apparently random knife attack on a bus on Lineroever: "I heard the bus driver screaming"

On a De Lijn bus on Linkeroever in Antwerp, a 76-year-old man was violently killed. Two others, including the driver, were injured. The 38-year-old suspect was arrested, (and) police assume a random attack.

By Sam Reyntjens and Netter Loots

June 16 2025 at 18:55

At 2:30 pm, a 76-year-old man was stabbed to death on a De Lijn bus on Linkeroever in Antwerp. He was reportedly stabbed in the throat. Two other persons were taken to the hospital with injuries. The suspect, a 38-year-old man, was arrested on the bus. That is confirmed by police spokesperson Kim Bastiaens.

Caption: The police were quickly at the scene.

"The two injured are the bus driver, who is in shock, and a 63-year-old passenger, who tried to intervene," says Bastiaens. The passenger was injured in the leg. At this time, police believe it was a random knife attack.

The forensic lab team arrived at the scene to search for evidence, and an investigation began into the circumstances of the incident. "Witnesses were interviewed, and camera images were seized," says Bastiaens. The police closed off the site from bystanders with a black tarpaulin.

Report of strange behavior

"I heard the bus driver screaming," says an employee of the Woonhaven Housing Company, who was catching some fresh air when the incident occurred. "I saw the bus departing from the Iglo stop. After less than 20 meters, he stopped again. I thought that something was wrong with the vehicle until I heard the bus driver shouting. Residents and people from the service center immediately came to see what was happening." 

The police were quickly at the scene. Before the stabbing incident happened, they had received a report about a passenger who was behaving strangely as he boarded the bus. The dead victim had boarded the bus at the Iglo stop, (while) the perpetrator was on the bus for some time longer.

 In video images, the perpetrator can be seen walking toward the police with his hands in the air. He was held at gunpoint and lay on the ground at the command of the police, whereupon he was arrested.

According to a Woonhaven employee, the bus driver held the doors closed until the police arrived.