EIGHT students have returned to Kent from India after a trip of a lifetime, but their homecoming was tinged with great sadness.

The students, seven at Dartford's Leigh City Technology College and one former student, spent 18 days in Delhi and Bangalore.

Dan Gaymer, 20, Joseph Adams, 17, Emma Braganza, 17, Taran Lally, 17, Laura Alderton, 16, Hayley Beckley, 17, Sophie Caplan, 16, and Kris Hodges, 17, stayed with host families in both cities and formed great friendships with fellow Indian students.

But just days after they returned home, they heard that host student Tanvi Rao, 17, from Bangalore, had been killed in a car crash on Saturday.

Tanvi, a bright, bubbly teenager who loved life, was well known to all of them and had taken part in a cross-cultural evening before the Dartford youngsters returned home. Emma had stayed with Tanvi and her family and got to know her well.

Ajay Attra, the college’s head of careers, was leader to the students on the trip. He said he told them the sad news on Monday, and they were all very upset, with Emma the most closely affected.

He said: “Tanvi Rao will be remembered as a mature, well-mannered, talented and bright 17-year-old. She very quickly made a strong bond of friendship with Emma, her visiting friend from the UK and brought our evenings alive, whether through her singing, dancing or through conversation. Her departure is a great loss to us, her school and, most of all, our hearts go out to her parents.”

uE06E For the full story of our students in India, see this week’s Kent Business.