TWO British gap-year students were shot by African pirates on an island off the Tanzanian coast.

Grace Forster, 18, and Robert Scott, 20, were hit by a single bullet as they lay face down in the sand while seven armed bandits raided their camp on Pemba Island.

They were among a group of 25 Britons taking part in a gap-year diving expedition from the East African island. The students, who had just arrived at the camp, were forced to bury their heads in the sand while the pirates stole money, jewellery and watches.

Some of the girls were partially stripped so the bandits could get to cash hidden under their clothes. It is understood that at least one girl was beaten around the head with a machete handle.

The attack comes after a British businessman was murdered by pirates on neighbouring Zanzibar last year.

Miss Forster, from Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, speaking from her hospital bed in the capital, Dar es Salaam, told her parents how the campers were eating dinner in a beach hut on Friday night when they heard what they thought was the snap of firecrackers. It turned out to be gunshots fired by a band of pirates as they ran out of the darkness into the camp and shouted at the teenagers to lie on the sand.

It is understood that several of the camp’s unarmed guards fled. Others were assaulted by the raiders.

“When the shots went off, everyone thought it was some sort of celebration,” Miss Forster’s father, Ian, told The Times. “Without any warning, they just started shooting and Grace was the first to be hit and the only one to receive a direct hit. We were absolutely devastated when we heard the news.”

The bullet entered Miss Forster’s left hip and came out of her right buttock before lodging in Mr Scott’s thigh.

Mr Scott will be flown back to Britain for surgery to remove the bullet. His family could not be reached for comment last night.

Mr Forster added: “The robbers subjected several of them to some very indecent treatment. The girls were made to strip parts of their clothing off so they could get to money underneath their trousers. Most of them lost significant amounts of money.

“Obviously, the locals had tipped off this gang of armed guys, who seem to be operating some sort of modern piracy system.” The attackers escaped by sea with the group’s boat in tow.

Mr Forster, who runs a diving centre in Cambridgeshire, said that as his daughter bled on the beach, she had the presence of mind to slip off her diving computer watch and press it into the sand with her passport so that the pirates would not find it.

“It’s her older sister’s computer and she was very proud of herself that they hadn’t got it. She’s pretty switched on. She is a very resilient girl.”

Miss Forster and Mr Scott were last night discharged from hospital and taken to a house owned by Frontier, which organised the expedition. They will recuperate there until arrangements can be made to fly them back to Britain this week. The rest of the group were evacuated yesterday from Pemba to the mainland. Miss Forster, the youngest of four children, had just completed her A levels at Ramsey Abbey School in Cambridgeshire.

William Hedley-Miller, a spokesman for Frontier, said: “This incident will cause a major review of operations on Pemba Island. Frontier has been operating in Tanzania continuously since 1989 and this is the first such attack.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that consular staff had travelled to Pemba to help the 25 conservation volunteers.

According to the Foreign Office website, armed crime in Tanzania is increasing.

Alex Wijeratna, 34, said his dive group was attacked by machete-wielding bandits during a trip to Pemba in February. “It was carnage. I thought they were going to kill us all,” he said.

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