Godolphin & Latymer School 'Shocked and Saddened' by Student's Death
15 year-old Amelie Linsey was killed with her brother by bomb in Sri Lanka
The Head Mistress of Hammersmith's Godolphin and Latymer School, Dr Frances Ramsey, has released a statement expressing shock and sadness at the death of 15 year-old Amelie Linsey in the Easter terror attack in Sri Lanka.
Dr Ramsey said: " The whole school community is shocked and saddened by the news that a Year 10 pupil was amongst those killed in the Sri Lanka attacks on Sunday.
"Our thoughts are with her family at this desperately sad time.
" We are doing our best to support our students and staff as we come to terms with the terrible events which have taken place."
Amelie was with her father and brother Daniel in the Table One Café in the Shangri La Hotel in Colombo on the last day of her holiday. When the blast struck her father Matthew believed her to be less seriously injured than her brother Daniel and so he decided to carry him downstairs to receive treatment. Mr Linsey had been injured in the face by shrapnel from the explosion.
Unconscious Amelie was left with other survivors in the café after her father had been reassured she would be taken care of. The medical attention 19 year-old Daniel received from his father and later at hospital failed to save him.
Mr Linsey, who is a London-based emerging markets fund manager told The Times: "You can’t describe how bad it was. People were screaming. I was with my children. I couldn’t tell whether they were all right, it was dark. I was worried there would be another blast. We ran out — another blast.
"We both went to where the lifts were and I couldn’t move them, they were both knocked out. My son looked worse than my daughter. I tried to revive him. A lady said she’d take my daughter.
" I carried my son downstairs to an ambulance, we took him to the hospital. I yelled 'Please help my son, please help, please help'. I thought my daughter was better off. I couldn’t find her because I was with my son. They sadly passed away."
He said that Amelie was "beautiful inside and out" adding: "Both children were very interested in different cultures. They loved travelling abroad. That’s a very important part of who they were."
Mr Linsey was helped by the US embassy, who arranged for his return to London. He is now trying to arrange for the repatriation of his son and daughter's bodies.
Another British father, Ben Nicholson, lost his wife and two children in the same blast.
Mr Linsey's wife Angelina and Amelie's two other brothers had remained in the UK. Angelina Linsey was quoted in The Times as saying, "Amelie was really fun. She was smart, beautiful. Very loving, very caring, understanding. She cared about her family and her friends. And the same with Danny."
It is now believed that eight British Citizens were among over 300 people killed in a series of attacks on Churches and hotels in a number of locations across Sri Lanka. Over 500 people are reported to have been injured in the eight blasts.
In the capital Colombo, St Anthony's Shrine and the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotels were targeted. There were also explosions at a hotel near Dehiwala zoo and in the residential district of Dematagoda. Further blasts took place in St Sebastian's Church in Negombo, a town approximately 20 miles north of Colombo, and at Zion Church in Batticaloa, on the east coast.
April 24, 2019