Children hurt as schoolpicnic turns into a battle

SEVEN Nicosia schoolchildren were injured yesterday when a supervised picnic in the Troodos mountains turned into a stone-throwing battle zone.

Mayhem broke out on the annual school trip when rival groups from different Nicosia gymnasiums confronted each other in a stone fight while teachers looked on in horror. After the fracas five boys and two girls needed hospital treatment and were taken to nearby Kyperounda, said police.

Five of the injured received first aid and were allowed home while the remaining two were taken to Limassol general hospital for further treatment before being released.

After the hail of stones ceased, a school bus, a commercial vehicle and two vehicles belonging to the Platania forestry department were damaged, said police. The Platania forest picnic area is popular with tourists and locals alike seeking to escape city life.

Morphou CID are investigating the incident.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.