A London secondary school has reported a tour guide to police after a video appears to show the woman slapping a Black student during a school trip to Iceland.
The white woman had stayed as a guest at Hotel Ork in the Nordic country last week, at the same time as years 9, 10 and 11 geography students from Harris Girls’ Academy Bromley.
The woman was travelling with a different group and the incident occurred when guests were “woken up late in the evening, as requested, to witness the Northern Lights”, Hotel Ork said.
A video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by The Black Child Agenda on Sunday shows a student speaking with the tour guide before the girl was slapped in the face by the woman and chased in a corridor of the hotel.
The student, wrapped in a Barbie blanket and standing outside a hotel room door, appears to say “please don’t come near me” before she was assaulted and chased during the school trip that ended on Saturday.
A person recording the incident ran after the pair, yelling: “Why did you slap her?”
A woman’s voice can he heard saying “do not be so menacing” while the camera is pointed at the ground.
Hotel Ork said the woman was a guest and not a hotel employee.
The incident was reported to Icelandic police and the woman was not arrested, it added.
In a statement to the Standard, general manager Jóhann Sigurðsson said: “The police arrived at the scene, took statements from all parties involved, and conducted their investigation. The tour guide was not arrested.
“This is in line with Icelandic law and is a standard procedure for an incident of this sort.
“Hotel Örk wants to make it absolutely clear that we strongly condemn all forms of violence, and we are deeply concerned about any incident that affects the safety, comfort, and overall experience of our guests.
“We sincerely regret the disruption this incident caused during what should have been a moment of enjoyment and wonder as our guests experienced the Northern Lights.”
Students returned home from the trip around 11pm on Saturday.
In response Harris Federation said in a statement: “The adult in this clip, which was filmed on a trip to Iceland, is not from our school.
“The children are safe and okay, and we’ve reported the adult to the police, who are rightly taking it seriously. We share your disgust and are supporting the police investigation.”
A number of people on social media expressed shock and disgust over the “unbelievable” incident, calling for the woman to be “sacked”.
The Standard has approached Harris Girls’ Academy Bromley and Harris Federation for comment.
Ofsted said it does not comment on individuals schools or incidents.
The secondary school in Bromley has around 1,000 pupils between the ages of 11 and 18.
