Pakistan

10 day visit: APS survivors to leave for China trip

The aim is to divert the attention of pupils away from the horrific terror attack.

Asad Zia February 01, 2015

Children set to leave for a 10 day China trip. PHOTO: AFP

PESHAWAR: Ten survivors of the Peshawar school tragedy will fly out to Beijing Monday morning as part of a 10-day tour of China. This is the first batch of Army Public School (APS) students undertaking the trip.

The principal aim of this tour is to divert the attention of students from the December 16 terror attack on the APS in which 150 people, mostly students, were brutally killed by Taliban.

An official has confirmed that the top 10 survivors of grade 8th to 12th, along with a family member, will leave for China Monday morning.

The group of students along with their family members had lunch in the General Headquarters Rawalpindi while they were also invited by the China Embassy for dinner.

An official said that only two students of class 9th out of 32 survived the attack. One of them was injured while the other is included among the visiting students.

The surviving students from class 8th to 12th will visit three countries – China, Hong Kong and Malaysia – while the martyred pupils’ parents will be sent to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2rd, 2015.