Canarian Weekly: Graffiti thugs assault passengers on Metro

[User Not Logged In]

A GROUP of 34 graffiti artists spray-painted a Metro train in Barcelona in the early hours of Sunday morning, and injured three passengers, including a pregnant woman.

Municipal transport company TMB is taking legal action against the culprits, as are the injured trio, and has passed security camera recordings to the courts to enable the thugs to be identified as soon as possible.

One suspect was carrying items used for painting, as well as a Go-Pro camera, used to record the vandalism.

The incident took place at 3.48am at a station on the Barcelona underground system.

One of the graffiti travellers pulled the emergency lever, just after it had passed through the station.

The gang then left the train and began spray-painting one side of it, prompting recriminations from passengers.

Some of the gang attacked angry passengers, and a pregnant woman had paint sprayed in her face, while another two passengers were injured after being pushed and punched.

The gang then dispersed in small groups, most of them managing to reach the street above

One person, detained by Metro security guards and handed over to the regional police, was carrying items used for painting, as well as the Go-Pro camera.

The emergency services were called to the scene to attend to members of the public, none of whom had serious injuries.

Along with other rail companies, TMB has sounded the alarm about a rise in vandalism by graffiti artists, who are behaving increasingly more aggressive toward citizens, so they can complete their paintings.

Rail authorities say that this kind of vandalism is, currently, the main safety problem for train operators throughout Spain.

These operators have called for action to combat the practice, and are co-ordinating with security forces and judicial authorities to take action.

A similar incident took place just a few hours earlier, in the Madrid Metro system, when a group of graffiti artists stopped a train at the Hospital del Henares (Coslada) station, at 1.20am, to spray-paint it.

They vandalised around 18 metres of the train as it stood there before making off.