A badly burnt British teenager tells Richard Kerbaj she will resume her voluntary work even though her attackers have not been caught
A BRITISH student who suffered severe injuries when acid was thrown over her in Zanzibar has spoken of her frustration at the slow progress of the police investigation and her fears that her attackers will never be caught.
Kirstie Trup, 18, who was left with severe burns to her left arm, shoulder and back, and less serious burns to her neck and face, insisted the ordeal had not broken her spirit and that she was determined to overcome her injuries.
Speaking for the first time since two men on a moped hurled acid at her and her friend Katie Gee, on August 7, Trup said: “I feel very frustrated and upset that our attackers haven’t been caught.
“Stone Town [the old part of Zanzibar’s capital] is too small for it to be this hard and I fear they will never be caught.”
However, Trup said she intended to return to Zanzibar next year, despite warnings from doctors that it may take between 18 months and two years for her injuries to heal.
"This experience . . . has not deterred me from wanting to do more voluntary work in Zanzibar,” she said.
A family picture of Kirstie Trup taken on the day she was leaving for Zanzibar (John Seaton Callahan / Trup Family Archive) Trup and Gee, also 18, travelled to the east African island to work with underprivileged children. They were walking to a restaurant when they were doused with what was believed to be sulphuric acid from a car battery. The pair were flown back to Britain and have been treated at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.
This weekend, Trup released previously unpublished photographs, including one taken by her mother at the family home in north London on the day she left for Zanzibar.
Most people who have suffered the trauma endured by Trup would not wish to return to the scene of such horror — but Trup is not most people.
She has pledged to return to the Zanzibar and insists she retains many happy memories of her time there.
She told The Sunday Times: “In fact, I would even like to return to do more work there next year.”
She says the memories of her time on the island before the attack are precious and she does not want them tainted by the ordeal she and Gee, her friend from childhood, underwent just days before they were due to return to Britain.
Trup said she was eager to see her assailants imprisoned for their crime. “I am very determined to overcome my injuries and aid the investigation as much as possible.”
After the attack, which happened as she and Gee were walking home from a restaurant, three local men helped Trup into the sea. Their actions limited the impact of her burns, although she underwent a skin graft on August 15 at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
She has since returned home but remains under close medical supervision and returns to the hospital two or three times a week to have her burns treated. Gee is understood to have been more seriously injured and is still in hospital.
The pair were nearing the end of a month-long trip to Zanzibar to teach English to underprivileged children when they were targeted. They had been working with Art in Tanzania, an organisation that runs community projects and educational programmes.
Trup said she had provided local police with a “very detailed” description of the attack within hours of the incident. The two women were interviewed by police at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital, where they were initially treated.
“My description was very detailed — it lasted about 40 minutes,” said Trup. “It doesn’t make sense that our attackers haven’t been caught. Stone Town is a small place and everyone knows everyone.”
The Sunday Times understands that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been liaising closely with the authorities in Zanzibar over the investigation. Police have interviewed several people, including eyewitnesses, and are believed to have a possible suspect who fits the description provided by the women.
“If the authorities have someone then why have we not seen a photo?” asked Trup. “The guy [who threw the acid] was in his early twenties. My memory of the one driving the moped is less clear — I remember him wearing a brown-coloured shirt. However, my recollection of the man on the back of the moped is much clearer.
“He was very dark and had a shaved head. He was wearing a white T-shirt and dark jeans. He was average build — slim, medium height, no distinctive features. I have given all this information to the police but they still haven’t caught anyone.”
Mkadam Khamis, the regional police commissioner in Zanzibar, has said his officers are exploring “many avenues of investigation” including Uamsho, a hardline Islamic group.
Asked about the effect of the attack on her, Trup said it was difficult to explain: “I think about it a lot. Why did they approach us the way they did? Why did they smile? Did they know us or were we just the perfect victims?
“For me there are a lot of unanswered questions and catching these people would go a long way to answering them. I don’t feel frightened — I just want answers.”
Trup hopes to attend Bristol University to read history after securing a place last month.
Gee won a place at Nottingham University to study sociology, but may take a year off to recover from her injuries.
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