Teen tells of attack by racist bus thug

A TEENAGE student has told how he was subjected to terrifying racist attack as he went home on a number 33 bus.

South African Riaz Moola, 19, said he was targeted for no apparent reason by a man who launched a tirade of verbal abuse – before threatening to stab him.

Fellow passengers had to step in to stop the attacker getting back on the bus after the driver had thrown him off.

Mr Moola posted a YouTube video to describe the incident which happened on South Clerk Street at about 5pm as he made his way home from university.

He told the Evening News: “Edinburgh’s not safe – things like that never happened to me in South Africa, supposedly one of the most dangerous places in the world.

“I actually feel safer in South Africa after what has happened to me here.”

He added: “I sat next to a guy on the bus and he tapped me on the shoulder and told me to move – I just did it because he looked a bit scary. There was a couple sitting nearby at the back of the bus, they began scolding him and saying he couldn’t tell me to move like that.

“So I decided to go back to the seat and asked him why I couldn’t sit there.

“He said he thought I was from Pakistan and he started swearing and saying I was raping his country.”

He said the man then stood up and threatened to stab him.

“A man grabbed him to stop him from getting to me, and I moved away.

“I ran to the front of the bus – he was coming towards me and nobody could stop him.

“He came up to me and tried to grab my throat.”

Mr Moola said the driver, who called the police, had to remove the abusive passenger before shutting the doors.

“But the guy walked down the side of the bus to my window and through the window continued to scream threats.”

Computer sciences student Mr Moola described the man as in his mid to late 20s, skinny, missing his front teeth and with a shaved head.

He posted the YouTube video after a case on a London tram hit the headlines where footage was taken of a woman with a child on her knee launching a foul-mouthed racist rant.

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman confirmed the incident on November 17 was being investigated.