Reunited after horror in Madrid (From Gazette Series)

Reunited after horror in Madrid

A 40-STRONG party of pupils from Wotton-under-Edge were joyously reunited with parents on Monday after being in Madrid when bombs blasted four railway stations.

The pupils, aged 14 and 15, from Katharine Lady Berkeley's School, were in the Spanish capital last week on a 10-day exchange visit.

Headteacher School Andrew Harris said: "Obviously we were shocked at the news from Spain, and concerned for our children's and colleagues' safety.

"We considered bringing the whole group home straight away, and we would have done whatever that would take but the Foreign Office advised us that was not necessary.

"Parents were in touch with our four staff, in charge of the trip, and were reassured that the city was assessed to be safe, after the co-ordinated explosions on Thursday morning."

He added: "Some parents talked directly to me, expressing their wishes to have their children at home, but accepting there was no urgent need to do this."

The day before the explosions, which killed 200 people and injured more than 1,400, one group of visiting pupils were actually on a trip to see one of the metro stations in operation.

And, on the days when the Wotton pupils shared classes with their Spanish counterparts, they routinely used the Madrid underground railway system to travel between school and their temporary homes.

After the blasts taxis and Spanish parents ferried the pupils to their destinations.

They were scheduled to visit the town of Toledo the following day, a plan they stuck to, taking them out of Madrid.

Mary Fowles, whose son, Matthew, was on the trip, said: "Happily I didn't know anything about the explosions, as I was out working all day. When I eventually heard one of the comforting thoughts was they're probably in the safest place now it's all over.

"Fortunately we had the phone number of where Matthew was staying. I think he may have been shielded from all the details of the terrorist attack, as the boy he was staying with was younger than him.

"He did seem subdued when I talked to him on Thursday evening, though."