Another Auckland bus attack: Asian woman allegedly robbed on route No 70

Anna Zhang, of Auckland, was attacked by a group of teenaged children who tried stealing her Hop Card, stomped on her hand, kicked her abdomen, on bus No 70 on Symonds St. Photo / Anna Zhang

A recent immigrant to New Zealand is traumatised after allegedly getting attacked by a group of children on a bus in Auckland on a route now notorious for recent racist and anti-social incidents.

Anna Zhang, a mother to a primary school-aged girl and self-described as being small in stature, said she moved to New Zealand from Thailand thinking it was safe. Friday night’s incident changed her mind, made her regret the move, and has prompted her to warn others wanting to move here to stay away.

Zhang was just about to get off the No 70 bus, Botany to Britomart via Panmure, on Symonds St in the central city when she was confronted by about five roughly teenaged children.

The group allegedly tried stealing Zhang’s bus card as she was holding it, but Zhang began yelling at them to draw attention to the situation. One boy allegedly managed to steal her Hop card and then threw it back at her.

Zhang tried to pick up her bus card after it fell to the floor, but a girl from the group then stomped her hand. Zhang fought back, punching the girl in the face, but the group then set upon her and allegedly repeatedly kicked her in the abdomen.

Zhang yelled at the children throughout the incident, saying: “Where are your parents? Why you guys are travelling alone at almost 10pm? You are kids but it doesn’t mean you can bully or hurt anyone. You are uneducated.”

The bus driver intervened, and the children told him they had not done anything, Zhang said. They then got off the bus and ran away. Zhang notified police about the attack.

A police spokesman said they were making inquiries into the incident. An Auckland Transport spokesman confirmed it was aware of the incident, and is working with police and the bus operator.

Anna Zhang says she was confronted and attacked by five children on a bus in Auckland's city centre. Photo / Anna Zhang

“While there were no serious injuries, the victim was understandably shaken,” the police spokesman said.

Zhang said: “I felt like bursting out and overwhelmed. I cried out loud [and I am] not happy at all. I couldn’t work last night [after the attack] because my mental state wasn’t ready, and it still hasn’t recovered. I have already lost my income.

“Now I am so scared. When I need to sit on the bus [now, I] must look around all the time as I cannot trust anyone around me. These kids will ruin NZ’s reputation as it is not a safe place anymore and the bullying will never stop.”

Zhang said her husband was mugged at a train station within their first four days of living in New Zealand when she and her family moved here seven months ago.

She believed the children on Friday night targeted her due to her ethnicity and she had a frank message for them, their parents and the justice system.

Zhang called the children who allegedly attacked her “a burden on society” and reprimanded their parents for not taking responsibility.

“I [would] tell these kids that I’m sorry for them if they don’t have a supportive family and parents who can educate them. When they grow up, they might end up in jail. I’m sorry that their parents weren’t ready to take care of them, which makes them a burden on society,” she said.

“The thing is they don’t care about the police and the camera on the bus. They knew as kids, they always can get away from it.

“I [have] paid [for] everything here by myself and I paid tax for New Zealand. Why I should be a victim by these bad kids? Shall I carry some weapons from today onwards just in case to protect myself?”

Zhang wanted to find a new job that would allow her to work during the day rather than at night in order to avoid any similar incidents. She said she would try to sit as close to the bus driver as she could when she took the bus in future.

A schoolboy was left badly beaten after a woman allegedly attacked him with a metal pole.

Two racially abusive incidents have happened on Auckland’s buses in the past two months, with one woman filmed going on a racist and violent rant on the same bus route, No 70, in July and another woman allegedly beating a schoolboy with a metal pole in June. Both women have been charged by police.

Also on a No 70 bus, video footage captured a man spitting, triggering disgust and outrage from viewers on social media. Users said the incident represented wider problems of anti-social behaviour on public transport.

Zhang, a student and part-time hotel employee, said she felt bad for the country.

“If I could turn back time, I would not choose New Zealand.”

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.