For the second day the attacks believed to be the action of the prison gang PCC (First Command of the Capital) continued in São Paulo state, Brazil. After killing at least nine people on Wednesday morning, July 12, the criminal group continued to defy the police and terrorize the residents of the city of São Paulo.
After 47 buses were burned and due to the continued violence the bus companies decided to keep their vehicles in the garage leaving millions of Paulistanos without a way to go to work.
90% of the 8,000 buses have stopped. From the 16 companies that serve the city only 4 were operating and with a reduced fleet. According to São Paulo’s transit authority, SPTrans, only the companies Himalaia, Oak Tree, Gato Preto e TRanspass are working.
The representatives of the private companies that serve the city are calling for better security and for compensation in case their buses get burned. Trains and subways are operating, but they only serve a few areas.
At 10 am, São Paulo was having a 46 miles traffic jam. The average traffic jam for that time is 25 miles, according to CET, the Traffic Engineering Company. .
Transportation secretary Gilberto Kassab and SP Trans were at a loss to explain the bus stoppage since the bus companies have not told authorities of their intention to stop the service. .
While in the first wave of violence the PCC mostly attacked military targets this time the gang is hitting civilians and innocent people.
More than 100 attacks happened in the last two nights against buses, gas stations, banks and even an ambulance. Apparently nobody was killed today, but four women and a child were hurt. There were acts of violence in 15 cities of São Paulo.
In the seaside city of São Vicente the bus collector and a young women and her 2-year-old child were burned while getting out of a bus after it was set on fire. In the Vila Madalena neighborhood in the capital two women also suffered light burns after 3 men got into a bus and burned it.
The attack against the ambulance occurred in Santana do Parnaíba, in the Greater São Paulo. The criminals places a false emergency call and when the vehicle arrived they asked the driver to get out of the car and set it ablaze.
While the population stays at home terrified by the violence, prison agents started a 24-hour strike in all the 144 state prisons. The work stoppage is to protest the lack of security and the murder of 15 prison employees since May.