French schoolchildren badly injured in Westminster attack

Three French schoolchildren from Brittany on a visit to London were injured – two critically – in the terrorist attack on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday.

The teenagers from the Saint-Joseph de Concarneau lycée (secondary school) were halfway through a week-long visit to London.

There were four classes from second grade – aged 15 and 16 – in the British capital, a total of more than 100 children. About a dozen were believed to have been walking on the bridge when the speeding Hyundai car ploughed towards them.

The injured were taken to St Thomas’ hospital, where doctors were reported to be trying to save the life of one of the teenagers. The condition of a second was said to be critical. There was no information about the third pupil.

The switchboard at Saint-Joseph school, in the Finistère department of western France, was saturated with calls from anguished parents on Wednesday.

Le Télégramme, a local newspaper, reported that the headteacher, Xavier Rebillard, had met parents who gathered at the school to wait for news. The local police commissioner and counsellors have gone to the school to comfort parents.

Forough Salami, vice-president of the Brittany regional council, was in London with two colleagues, Anne Gallo and Mona Bras. She was with a delegation of 40 people from business and cultural circles invited to the Australian embassy.

“At the time of the attack, we weren’t nearby and we had difficulty having information, but we’ve just learned [at which] hospital the three injured lycéens from Concarneau were being treated. The rest of the class was held on a boat with psychological counsellors before being taken back to their youth hostel,” she told the local newspaper.

The French president, François Hollande, declared France’s “solidarity and support” for Britain and the victims during an official visit on Wednesday. “Terrorism affects us all,” he said. “France, which has been so badly hit in recent times, knows what the British people are suffering today.”

London is a popular destination for French schoolchildren, an increasing number of whom are being encouraged to learn English.

The Eurostar has made cross-Channel visits a regular feature of the French school curriculum, although these children from Brittany are most likely to have come over by coach and ferry.