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Dozens of schoolchildren have been left stranded in the US after blundering hotel staff reportedly shredded their passports in error.
Forty-two teenagers from Barr Beacon School in Walsall, north of Birmingham, had been on a skiing trip to the States and were due to fly home on Saturday.
But they have been forced to stay for four more days to get emergency documents from the British Embassy after the passports were inexplicable destroyed.
The group are now stuck in New York on an impromptu sight-seeing tour of the Big Apple while British officials scramble to sort out their new documentation.
They had previously been staying at the Kancamagus Lodge in Lincoln, New Hampshire, where the passports were shredded. They are expected to return home on Wednesday.
Students from the Barr Beacon School ride a sightseeing bus through New York City
Students from the Barr Beacon School outside the Kancamagus Lodge in Lincoln, New Hampshire, where the passports were shredded
Parents have praised school staff for their ‘phenomenal’ response to the problem, with head teacher Katie Hibbs adding she was proud of her team for ‘managing this very complicated situation’.
‘We have 42 pupils and four members of staff currently in New York after 41 of the passports were destroyed whilst the group were staying at the hotel in New Hampshire,’ Mrs Hibbs told Birmingham Live.
‘The group have had to apply for emergency documentation to allow them to travel home. The British Embassy in New York have completed the applications with the pupils and documents will be collected on their day of travel to leave the USA.
‘The party are currently in New York where they await their flight home, four days later than planned.’
The pupils are understood to be from Years 8 to 10 and are aged between 12 and 15.
Their skiing trip had previously been cancelled twice due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking of the latest situation to blight the trip, a mother of one of the girls stranded in America told the BBC: ‘It was a horrific shock really.
‘It’s the first time she has been away from family for this long. And what they were doing was really challenging – skiing black runs or blue runs, depending on their experience.’
Students from the Barr Beacon School view the Freedom Tower from a sightseeing bus
Students from the Barr Beacon School view the Rock Empire State Building at Top of the Rock
Students from the Barr Beacon School pose for a photo in downtown Manhattan
The mother – who did not want to be named – praised teaching staff for supporting pupils and Mrs. Hibbs for putting a plan in place and making sure parents had filled out the necessary paperwork within 24 hours.
‘The way the head teacher has been problem-solving from a distance has been fantastic,’ she said.
The stranded cohort of children have been touring the Big Apple seeing sights from Staten Island Ferry and New York’s Central Park.
Mrs. Hibbs added staff ‘on the ground are supporting pupils to explore the city on a dwindling budget’.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: ‘Our staff are always on hand to support Brits in trouble overseas and we have been in close contact with this school to assist them.
‘We are processing their applications for emergency travel documents so the staff and children can return to the UK as quickly as possible.’
Students from Barr Beacon School on the slopes before their passports were lost
Kancamagus Lodge has four-and-a-half stars out of five on Trip Advisor, but also a number of very bad reviews
Kancamagus Lodge declined to comment when contacted by DaiyMail.com.
Thought motel has an average of four-and-a-half stars out of five on Trip Advisor, some reviews offer brutal assessments of staying there.
‘Based on tripadvisor reviews I booked one night in this lodge. I paid over£150 and stayed 15 minutes. It was very close to a busy route 212 so lots of traffic noise. balcony small with 2 plastic seats to watch the traffic,’ one user wrote.
‘Not the quiet tranquil lodge I was looking for. Room smelled awful. Old and damp. Upstairs with no lift. Stairs coated with dirt. Tried to check in early. No. Tried to get room downstairs,would they refund my money? No.Did I stay? No.can I recommend this place ? No. Is it worth the money? No no no.’
And a user claiming to be the parent of one of the stranded students said their child had a miserable stay at the hotel before the passport situation started.
‘Our children were on a school trip and the lodge ‘lost’all their passports! Don’t stay here,’ the user wrote.
‘My child was so miserable here before even the passport fiasco, beds were hard as rocks, not enough blankets, room was falling apart, no lock on bathroom door, one set of drawers provided for between 4 children. Absolutely disgraceful. Don’t give the lodge anything to look after, it will disappear.’
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