Zanzibar acid attack: London teenager faces surgery as her friend recovers at home

 
Acid horror: Katie Gee (left) and Kirstie Trup, pictured together as they were about to leave on their trip to Zanzibar

One of the London girls attacked with acid in Zanzibar was today recovering at home as her friend remained in hospital preparing for an operation on her injuries.

Kirstie Trup was back with her family in Hampstead after being discharged from hospital last night.

But Katie Gee was set to undergo surgery after suffering burns to 80 per cent of her right arm and 50 per cent of her torso.

The two 18-year-olds were doused with acid by two men on a moped in an apparently targeted attack as they walked to a restaurant in the tropical island’s historic capital city.

They arrived back in the UK by emergency air ambulance on Friday and were taken immediately to the specialist burns unit at Chelsea and Westminster hospital, where their parents have been keeping a bedside vigil.

Katie Gee is comforted by an unidentified helper in a vehicle at the airport in Zanzibar
REUTERS/Reuters TV

Miss Gee’s tearful mother Nicky, 45, said today she did not want to talk about her daughter’s operation, saying it was “a very sensitive time”.

She arrived at the Trup family home this morning before heading to the hospital.

Miss Trup, meanwhile, will have to go back in to hospital on Thursday for a skin graft, her family said.

Her mother Rochelle Trup, 49, said: “I can confirm that Kirstie has been temporarily discharged until Thursday when she’s back in for a skin graft. We won’t make any comments regarding Katie.”

A spokeswoman for Chelsea and Westminster hospital said: “We are not commenting about the patients after requests by the families.”

The teenagers were volunteering with a charity Art in Tanzania for the summer after finishing their A levels when the assault occurred last Wednesday.

Miss Trup immediately jumped in the sea to try to wash off the corrosive liquid, while onlookers trying to help Miss Gee - who had rushed to a nearby toilet block - apparently used dirty water on her burns, inadvertently making her injuries worse.

Miss Trup’s father Marc Trup, a property investor, said both girls were “struggling to come to terms” with their burns.

The plane carrying Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup arrives at RAF Northolt
PA

He added: “The enormity of their ordeal is having a devastating effect on them, as is the extent of the injuries.”

Friends claimed they could have been targeted after spurning some local admirers often seen around the dormitories in Stone Town where they were staying with other voluntary workers.

Medical student Olivia Moore, a friend of the girls, said: “The two men were on a moped and they went past a group of tourists and then stopped for the girls.

“The two men then looked at each other, they nodded, and then the man on the back of the bike smiled and threw acid on the girls. There was no incident that preceded the actual attack.”

Both girls knew how to behave and dress appropriately so as not to offend the mainly Muslim island’s cultural traditions, according to Mrs Gee.

They also did not do anything to display their Jewish heritage, the parents said.

Police have arrested two suspects and have questioned six others whom they believe have “important information”.

Extremist preacher Sheikh Issa Ponda Issa surrendered to police after being shot in the shoulder as he tried to flee in Morogoro, 200 miles from Dar es Salaam.

Police believe he may be involved in the attack after he visited Zanzibar recently, inciting his followers to protest violently against “colonisation” from Christians.

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