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A taxi driver in Seville is recovering in hospital after being stabbed 16 times by a passenger in an attack so violent the knife's handle snapped off. A British man has been arrested and is expected to face charges of attempted murder.

 

The ordeal began when the passenger asked to be taken to the Los Arcos shopping centre, before redirecting the driver to an industrial estate. It was there, at around 2am, that things turned violent. The cabbie had reportedly grown suspicious of his passenger and refused to drive any further, at which point the attack began, lasting, by some accounts, several minutes.

 

The driver was left with wounds to his hands, arms, neck and shoulder blade. Somehow, despite his injuries, he managed to drive himself to a local police station, arriving covered in blood. An officer treated him on the spot before paramedics arrived and took him to hospital. His life is not thought to be in danger.

 

Police recovered the snapped handle from inside the taxi, and later found the blade elsewhere after the suspect apparently tried to dispose of it. He was arrested within minutes and is said to have resisted strongly. The Policía Nacional have opened an investigation into the attack.

 

Seville's mayor, Jose Luis Sanz, posted on X, thanking the Policía Local for their help and saying: "My support goes to the dear taxi driver, whose professionalism and skill in those moments I applaud." He added a message to the driver's colleagues too, calling it "an act that I strongly condemn."

 

The suspect is due before a judge by Monday at the latest, who will decide whether he's released on bail or held in custody. It isn't yet clear if he was living locally or visiting Seville on holiday.

 

The attack has also reignited concerns among the city's taxi drivers, with the Sevillian Taxi Union calling on the Ayuntamiento to address what they describe as a lack of police presence, particularly overnight, which they say leaves drivers exposed.

 

 

 

Image: Archive