Concerns Brisbane bus attack was racially motivated

THE Queensland government has ordered a review of the mental health care given to a man accused of torching a Brisbane bus driver.

Manmeet Sharma died on Friday when he was set on fire on his Brisbane bus.

THE Queensland government has ordered a review of the mental health care given to a man accused of torching a Brisbane bus driver.

Health Minister Cameron Dick says Anthony O’Donohue, 48, who’s been charged with the murder of Manmeet Alisher on Friday, had previously received public mental health services.

“I have requested the Director-General of Queensland Health to commission an independent investigation under the Hospital and Health Board Act 2011 regarding treatment provided to the accused,” Mr Dick said in a statement on Monday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile has phoned Malcolm Turnbull to convey his “sense of concern” over the attack.

Manmeet Sharma, 29, was burned alive when an incendiary device was thrown at him while he was letting passengers on at Moorooka on Friday.

Mr Modi phoned Mr Turnbull on Sunday to express “sense of concern being felt in India over the recent brutal killing of ... a person of Indian origin, in Australia,” an Indian Prime Minister’s office statement said.

In response, Turnbull “expressed shock at the killing and conveyed that the matter is being investigated”, the statement added.

Attacks on Indians in Australia have made headlines since a series of murders in 2009. Queensland police have said they do not believe the Brisbane attack was racially motivated.

The frail parents of Mr Sharma aren’t likely to learn of his death until his body is returned home to India. His distraught brother Amit arrived in Brisbane on Sunday but was too distressed to speak to media.

Family spokesman Winnerjit Goldy said the family would wait until they returned his body to tell his sick mother and elderly father.

“We haven’t told the parents that he’s no more, we just say it’s an accident, he’s in a coma,” Mr Goldy said.

“The whole family is dependent on him.”

Amit Alisher visited the site of the fire on Sunday afternoon, where flowers have been laid and a vigil was held on Saturday night.

Manmeet Sharma’s parents still don't’t know he is dead.

Thousands gather at a memorial for slain Brisbane city council bus driver Manmeet Sharma in Moorooka. Pictures: Jack Tran

Before he arrived in Australia he told Fairfax why he had not told his parents the devastating truth. “They are too old — my father is 70 — they won’t be able to take it. I have told them he is in hospital after getting hurt in a road accident and that’s why I am going to see him in Brisbane,” Amit said.

Manmeet Sharma, a prominent figure and beloved singer in the Punjabi community, was employed as a casual bus driver and had only been working in the job for several months before Friday’s horrific attack.

The horrifying scene in Moorooka on Friday morning when Manmeet Sharma was allegedly attacked with a incendiary device.

O’Donohue has been charged with murder, arson and 11 counts of attempted murder, and will remain in custody until his case returns to court in late November.

A taxi driver hailed a hero for helping save passengers on Mr Sharma’s bus will be recommended for a bravery award.

Aguek Nyok kicked out the back door of the flaming bus after he heard passengers screaming to get out.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will write to the Australian Bravery Declarations Council recommending Mr Nyok be nominated for a national bravery medal.

“He saved 11 lives that day ... he put his own life at risk,” she said on Sunday.