June 5, 2008
Taxi drivers riot at Melbourne airport
TAXI drivers turned on each other last night outside a Tullamarine cafe, in what appears to have been a racially charged brawl.
According to a witness, up to 30 drivers, some of them brandishing weapons, spilled onto Melrose Drive from the Melrose Lounge.
A 25-year-old man was later taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with a cut above his eye, bruising and swelling.
It was initially suggested the fight was between Sudanese and Indian drivers.
However, other witnesses claim the fight began between a Somalian driver and an Indian driver, before mushrooming into a brawl between Indians and drivers from various African nations.
One driver, a leader in the recent taxi driver protests in Melbourne's CBD, told 3AW radio the disturbance was sparked when an Indian driver attempted to skip the queue.
"The Indian driver tried to jump the queue, and one of the Somalian drivers said 'you can't jump the queue, you have to do the right thing, this is wrong', and they started fighting."
Other taxi drivers and airport staff who contacted 3AW this morning claimed racial tensions were consistently evident at the airport rank, with queue-skipping enough to spark mass arguments and violent incidents.
Nabjot Gall, a taxi driver, said the fight broke out just before 8pm.
"I don't know why it happened, it just happened, " he said. "There was blood."
Mr Gall said drivers used carjacks as weapons and one man was smashed across the face.
"The fight went on and got bigger and bigger," he said.
Mr Gall said dozens of drivers were involved in the fight as they flocked to the scene from across Melbourne.
Owner-driver Rajvir Singh said police struggled to control the mob.
"It was hard (for police) to arrest someone. There were so many people," he said.
An Australian Federal Police officer confirmed members attended a "minor" incident at the cafe, but refused to comment further.
The fight continued for about half an hour before the AFP brought it under control.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23813430-661,00.html
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Comments on Taxi drivers riot at Melbourne airport »
Its the bloody racial disorder which is prevailing in australia….Indians here are being exploited are blamed 4 each n evey incident…..but the pple shld think in australia tht each n evey time it cannot be an indian whoz involved directly….NOW WHO WILL TELL THESE F***** PPLE…..THAT WE CANNOT CLAP WITH JUST ONE HAND……BULLS***
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Its the bloody racial disorder which is prevailing in australia….Indians here are being exploited are blamed 4 each n evey incident…..but the pple shld think in australia tht each n evey time it cannot be an indian whoz involved directly….NOW WHO WILL TELL THESE F***** PPLE…..THAT WE CANNOT CLAP WITH JUST ONE HAND……BULLS***
I am a Security Guard and I give infringement notices to Taxi Drivers at Sydney Airport.
I dont care if you are Indian,Somalian or White Anglo Saxon,do the wrong thing and I will fine you !
indians were trained by their masters (the british to live by corruption as a means of achieving happy life-style).
the incidents at the melbourne airport were sparked by indian stupidity which knows no bounds and limits, so everytime you skip a que and then attempt to argue SHIT happens.
i know somalis, they don't like to be made fool out of them, they are law abiding citizens, but if you test their patience, they don't care, they will act with barbarity just as they kill each other back home.
so let the indians improve their conduct, then everyone will respect you
the worst thing you can do is when you try to justify a wrong deed with another wrong deed.