Boston College students attacked with acid in France offer forgiveness to suspect

The incident happened Sunday at the Saint-Charles train station in Marseille.

ByABC News
September 18, 2017, 2:01 PM

— -- One day after four Boston College students were attacked with acid in Marseille, France, the college students are doing well and have offered forgiveness to their alleged attacker, according to police and the university.

Here's what we know about the incident.

The attack

The attack on the four students, all American women, occurred around 11 a.m. Sunday at the Saint-Charles train station in Marseille, Marseille police said.

Authorities arrested the suspect, a 41-year-old woman, who police said has a history of mental illness.

The attack was not terror-related, police added.

The injuries

Two of the students suffered facial injuries from the hydrochloric acid and were taken to a Marseille hospital, police said.

They were treated for burns and released on Sunday, according to Boston College.

The other two students were not physically injured but were treated for shock at the scene by emergency services, Marseille police told ABC News.

Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn told ABC affiliate WCVB in Boston on Sunday evening, "All of us at [Boston College] are surprised. We’ve been sending students to Europe for decades and have a dozen students in France this semester."

The aftermath

Boston College says the students involved are all juniors: Kelsey Kosten, who is currently studying at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, and Courtney Siverling, Charlotte Kaufman and Michelle Krug, who are all enrolled in the college's Paris program.

The school said in a statement Monday that the students "are doing well."

"The students say they plan to remain in Europe for their studies and offered forgiveness to the woman who sprayed them with an acid solution outside of the train station in Marseille," BC said.

Dunn said in the statement, "We are very proud of our students and the gracious manner in which they have handled themselves throughout this ordeal."

"The BC community is here to provide whatever support and assistance they need," Dunn added.

Americans abroad: Another alleged attack in Florence

Meanwhile, in Florence, Italy, an investigation is ongoing into the alleged rape of two American women by members of Italy’s paramilitary police corps.

The American women, who were studying in Florence, say that two policemen in Italy’s Carabinieri force raped them after driving them home in the city earlier this month.

ABC News' Ben Gittleson, Paul Pradier and Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.