Students stranded after hotel accidentally shreds 42 passports: report

Dozens of British students traveling to the US have been left stranded in the country after their hotel accidentally cut off their passports.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told the BBC: “Our staff are always on hand to help Britons who are in trouble abroad and we are in constant contact with the school to assist them.” “We are processing their applications for emergency travel documents so that staff and children can return to the UK as soon as possible.”

A group of high school students from Barr Beacon School on a ski trip in New Hampshire had to extend their trip by four days while waiting for emergency documents from the British Embassy. Around 42 passports were destroyed, along with the four staff members leading the trip.

The Kancamagus Lodge, where the students stayed during the trip, had no explanation as to why they accidentally shredded the passports.

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“Unfortunately, the hotel managed to destroy the passports in their care, which led to all those affected having to apply for emergency travel documents,” head teacher Katie Hobbs, who was not on the trip, told the Express & Star. “The group will fly home on Tuesday before all documents are finalized at the British Embassy in New York today, four days later than planned.”

Kancamagus Lodge in New Hampshire, where Barr Beacon School stayed during their ski trip. (Google Map)

The students went sightseeing in New York City while the embassy processed their paperwork with the hope of returning to the UK on Wednesday. Families had to pay about $180 for the documents.

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One parent praised Hobbs for “problem-solving from a distance,” staying late to make sure all parents received emergency documents as quickly as possible, filled out and returned paperwork .

Barr Beacon School, a sixth-form school that sent its students on a field trip to New Hampshire, where their passports were cut off by their hotel. (Google Map)

“She just spoke well with us and was really calm and clear,” the parents told the BBC. “She’s just been phenomenal.”

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He said, “The on-line is that they can have a wonderful experience and I said ‘Just be present and enjoy it’.”

Barr Beacon School students tour New York City while waiting for their emergency documents to return home. (Fox News Photo / Joshua Cummins)

Hobbs in turn praised the four teachers who led the trip for “working around the clock to make sure that the students are all safe and returned home as soon as possible.”

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Hobbs said, “I look forward to having the whole party back soon.”

The Kankamagus Lodge did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment at the time of publication.