A former Bahrain school pupil studying in Nottingham has spoken of his shock over the death of fellow students in the horrific incident.
“I was stunned when I woke up to find messages from all my friends at uni highlighting the different breaking news stories,” said South African expatriate Ross Grobler. “It’s so sad to hear that it was actually students that had been killed.”
The former St Christopher’s School pupil, who is currently back for summer break in Bahrain, had lived in the kingdom with his parents, lawyer dad Steve, head of legal at Alba, and mum Ronell, in Saar, for 10 years before moving to the UK for further studies. He has just completed his second year studying product design at Nottingham Trent University, City Campus, which he says is close to the City Centre where he has witnessed incidents of violence, particularly scraps outside the many clubs that attract students and locals.
“I often walk through the City Centre close to where the van had struck people and this is usually a very crowded area during the day,” added the 20-year-old. “Ninety-nine per cent of the time Nottingham feels like a very safe place. Usually you try to stay away from the sketchy areas at night or go out with a group of friends for safe keeping.”
Ross said he often met up in Nottingham with friends from Bahrain, including Faris Al Khalo, Kareem Bagaeen and Stan Szecowka Jnr – all former St Chris pupils who are now studying at nearby Loughborough University.
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