A group of tourists traveling across Europe by bike were recently attacked with stones by Roma in Romania, in the county of Salaj. One of the bikers, a Canadian citizen, sustained an arm fracture following the attack.

A group of Roma, mostly children, from the village of Surduc, Salaj county, attacked the group of 19 bikers on Friday afternoon (September 14 ), throwing stones and wood pieces at them, in an attempt to steal their luggage.

Local Police say the foreigners were attacked by children, the oldest of which was 12, who were home alone during the attack. A Police representative said the local policeman arrived at the scene after a call at the emergency number 112, but the bikers did not seem to be injured.

The tourists however say they saw adults too waiting for them. The 67-year old Canadian biker Tony Knott recalls it: “When we arrived 15 steps close to them, they raised a rope in the middle of the road, one meter above the ground, with iron rings on it. We stopped and they attacked us. I abandoned my bike and they came after me. I tried to chase them and save my wife. There were about ten people, carrying stones and all sorts of things,” he says.

“A woman carrying a child in her arms took a shovel and attacked me again. Then a child came to me and threw a brick at me. I lifted my arm to protect my head and this is when I broke by arm,” says the Canadian biker. After the incident he went to the Cluj Napoca hospital and had his hand isolated in gypsum.

The 19 bikers were crossing Romania on their way from Sankt Petersburg to Istanbul, having left Russia on August 16.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Photoxpress.com)