The trolleybus driver who found the missing boy in Bucharest on Saturday told, step by step, how he identified him and what he did until the police arrived.
Nicolae Barbu, 47 years old, STB driver, said that, on Saturday evening, the 11-year-old boy boarded the trolleybus line 90, in the area of Grădinii Cișmigiu in Bucharest, but that, due to the congestion on the bus, he did not realize at first that he was alone.
“Having several passengers in the car, I thought he was accompanied by someone. But when we got close to the Sower, I realized that he was, in fact, alone.” he explained.
When he approached him, the boy told him that he wanted to reach Pantelimon commune and that his mother was waiting for him at the National Arena.
“I told him he had gone the wrong way and to stay with me on the way back, I was passing right by. I put him in the front seat so I could see him better and keep an eye on him. I thought if my mom wasn’t waiting for him, I’d call the police.” explained the bus driver, according to a post distributed by Bucharest City Hall.
During the road, near Piața Rosetti, Nicolae Barbu received the RO-ALERT message about the disappearance of a child with similar symptoms. Then he realized that the boy was the one he was looking for and immediately called 112.
“It was 9:00 p.m. The police came in a few minutes, at the second station, Școala Iancului. I pulled over on the right, asked the rest of the passengers to get off and let the law enforcement officers intervene. The child got even more scared, he initially refused to get off, but in the end he was calmed down and taken well.” he told.
“Well, he trusted me the most. When the police came he panicked a bit. But it’s good when everything ends well.” concluded the man, who is, in turn, the father of two children, one of whom is a girl the same age as the missing boy.
