Motive for attack remains unknown as charity volunteers Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup fly home to UK
Police in Zanzibar have offered a reward of £4,000 for information leading to the capture of the men who doused two British teenagers with a corrosive liquid earlier this week.
Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup, who are both 18, were burned with a liquid – thought by police to be acid – on Wednesday night as they walked through the old part of the main island's capital, Zanzibar City.
The pair, who are due to return to RAF Northolt in the UK on Friday, had been volunteering as teachers for a charity on the island when they were assaulted.
The motive for the attack remains unknown although there has been speculation that it could be linked to everything from Islamist terrorism to a spat between shopkeepers.
Simai Mohammed Said, a board member of the Zambezi Association of Tourism Investors who said he was the first person alerted after the incident, said: "I don't think the police have any place to start. There's a lot of investigating going on and the government is on top of it."
Said said he helped the women after receiving a call 10 minutes after they were attacked. He said Gee and Trup were taken to hospital but then moved to a hotel with the help of the British consul because the hospital could not provide them with room temperature water with which to wash their burns.
"The ladies were in the bathroom, in the shower, trying to cool down and remove the acid," he told the Guardian.
"We were outside waiting. A doctor went in and looked at them. He said one had acid thrown in her face but her eyes were fine. I didn't see the injuries; they were covered in towels after the shower."
The women were then driven to an airport and evacuated to Dar es Salaam, Said said, leaving residents of Zanzibar in shock.
"We've had some petty crimes but this kind of incident has never happened before. The whole island is talking about this and the mood for Eid is sombre. Everyone is united in condemning this horrific attack on Zanzibar."
Said said he did not know who was behind the attack but added: "We get a lot of visitors. This could have been done by an outsider to create chaos. We don't know. This incident could have happened in London or Madrid and we probably wouldn't have heard about it."
A number of people in Zanzibar are understood to have been questioned in connection with the incident, but it is unclear whether any arrests have been made.
The Foreign Office declined to comment on the progress of the investigation, saying it dealt only with consular matters.
On Thursday, Zanzibar's assistant police commissioner, Mkadam Khamis Mkadam, confirmed the two women had been accosted by two men on a motorcycle who then threw a corrosive liquid on them.
Mkadam said the women, who are both from London, appeared to have escaped serious injury. "They are very lucky," he said. "The doctors said the injuries are relatively minor. There is discolouration, but they are not expected to be scarred. It is very fortunate."
He said police were looking into the motive for the attack, adding: "Normally these guys who ride motorcycles snatch bags and cameras, but this is new. It is worrying."
Gee, from East Finchley, and Trup, from Hampstead, had been volunteering at a school with Art in Tanzania and were reaching the end of their three-week stay. They are thought to have received burns to their faces, hands, legs, backs and necks.
Trup's father, Marc, told the Times the pair were "inconsolable" and still in pain when he spoke to them on a mobile phone lent to them by a passerby after the attack.
"We couldn't get anything out of them because they had been burned," he said. "Both girls are very shocked and very frightened." Speaking about his daughter, he added: "She can still see and she is not dead. Whatever it is we will cope with it."
Trup said the women had been dressed appropriately and had been warned not to wear anything that gave away their Jewish background, including the Star of David. "We know it's a Muslim country. They were western girls. Unfortunately they went out during the month of Ramadan. There has been a huge alert in African countries with potential threats. Maybe it's connected, maybe not."
In a statement outside the Trup home, a family friend said the women were flying home and their parents were looking forward to being reunited with them.
Speaking on behalf of their mothers, Rochelle Trup and Nicky Gee, he said: "Both families are extremely upset and distressed at this completely unprovoked attack on their lovely daughters, who had only gone to Zanzibar with good intention."
A spokesman for the Trup family told the London Evening Standard that the teenagers had been aware that it was Ramadan and had dressed and behaved accordingly. "The girls weren't doing anything wrong," he said. "They were fully covered and had long sleeves on."
He said Gee and Trup had travelled to Tanzania after finishing their A-levels. "They didn't choose to go to Ibiza or Magaluf but instead chose Zanzibar to help people," he said. "We checked it was safe but it seems there was some unrest there."
Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzania's president, is reported to have visited the women at the Aga Khan hospital in Dar es Salaam and promised that the men responsible for the "shameful" attack would be found.
The attack is thought to be the first such assault on foreigners, although religious violence has recently flared up on the archipelago, which lies around 22 miles off the coast of mainland Tanzania. In February a Roman Catholic priest was shot dead and a church torched. In November, a Muslim cleric was attacked with acid.
Around 75,000 Britons travel to Tanzania each year, according to the FCO, which says that although most visits are trouble-free, "violent and armed crime is increasing". In advice on its website, it says: "Mugging, bag snatching (especially from passing cars) and robbery have increased throughout the country."
