British pupils robbed at gunpoint

British pupils told yesterday how bandits fired shots over their heads before robbing them during a school trip to Guatemala. The 12 teenagers were hauled off their private bus one by one at gunpoint and made to empty their pockets before being tied up with ropes – and their own shoelaces. before the gunmen abandoned them. The group leader, from school travel organiser World Challenge Expeditions, activated a satellite beacon which sent a distress signal containing their location. Police arrived four hours later. They were on their way to begin a trek through the jungle when a pick-up truck overtook alongside their bus on a mountain road. Warning shots were fired and the bandits made the driver pull into scrub land out of sight of the road. The group handed over money, mobile phones, iPods, cameras, clothes and even spare contact lenses.