A group of 42 students from Barr Beacon School in Walsall, north of Birmingham, were left stranded in the US after hotel staff reportedly shredded 41 of their passports by mistake.
The group had been on a skiing trip and were due to fly home on Saturday but had been forced to stay for four more days to get emergency documents from the British Embassy.
They are now in New York, waiting for their travel documents to be ready, and taking the opportunity to sightsee the city. The students had been staying at the Kancamagus Lodge in Lincoln, New Hampshire, where the passports were destroyed.
The head teacher of Barr Beacon School, Katie Hibbs, praised her team for managing the situation, and parents have also praised the school staff for their support. The pupils are from Years 8 to 10 and are aged between 12 and 15. Their skiing trip had been cancelled twice due to the pandemic. Despite the setback, the students are making the most of their extended stay, exploring New York on a dwindling budget.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been in contact with the school to assist them in processing emergency travel documents so that the students and staff can return to the UK as soon as possible. The hotel has not yet commented on the incident.
»A group of 42 students are left stranded in the US«
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