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Zanzibar Acid Attack

August 8, 2013 by · Comments Off on Zanzibar Acid Attack 

Zanzibar Acid Attack, Two young British women were injured in an acid attack carried out by two men on a motorcycle on the east African island of Zanzibar, local police said Thursday.

The women, who were attacked in Stone Town, the island’s historic center, had been working as volunteer teachers on the island, travel firm i-to-i Travel said.

Stone Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site popular with tourists.

The Zanzibar government and a spokesman for the women’s families identified the victims as Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup, both 18.

The attack occurred Wednesday night as the women were walking unaccompanied along a street, said police Cmdr. Muccadam Khamis. The attackers, who did not take anything from their victims, left the scene on the motorbike, he said.

Eyewitnesses said the acid was splashed on the women’s faces, chests and hands.

The government condemned the attack and vowed to find the perpetrators.

“The event is a great tragedy, and an attack of this nature against a foreign citizen, has never happened here before,” the Zanzibar government said in a statement.

“The government is appealing to the general public to assist in the arrest of the offenders and is offering a reward of 10 million shillings (about $6,000) to anyone providing information leading to an arrest,” the statement continued.

The government also said it would regulate the purchase of acid and other related products, and warned that such attacks could seriously damage the island’s tourism industry, one of its main sources of funds. Police patrols will be stepped up in major tourist spots, officials promised.

The women were given first aid treatment at a local medical center before British consular officials helped them reach a hospital in the city of Dar es Salaam, on the Tanzanian mainland, Khamis said.

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