A 39-year-old man has been charged with several offenses, including kidnapping, hijacking, aggravated vehicle taking causing injury, and possession of an offensive weapon, after a bus was hijacked in County Tyrone on Saturday. The man is scheduled to appear before Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday.
The incident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. BST on Saturday when a man boarded a Translink Goldliner coach in the Beltany Road area of Omagh, County Tyrone. According to police, the driver was threatened at knife point, and while passengers were permitted to disembark, the driver was kept on board.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show the bus being driven at high speed through residential streets, pursued by a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) patrol car. The pursuit reportedly lasted for nearly 20 miles as the bus traveled in the direction of Newtownstewart, passing through Victoria Bridge and Sion Mills.
The bus was eventually stopped in the Head of the Town area of Strabane. A man, aged in his 30s, was removed from the vehicle and subsequently arrested. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service reported that two individuals were transported to South West Acute Hospital for treatment.