Two brothers from Senegal were attacked by more than a dozen students at a Tremont elementary school on Friday.
Pape Drame, 13 and Amadou Drame, 11, were punched, kicked and called “Ebola” during lunch their father, Ousmane Drame told DNAinfo.
The brothers, who attend IS 318, were born in the United States and had returned to New York to be with their father a month ago.
“If they go to play in the gym, the kids tell them ‘Don’t touch the ball. If you touch the ball we will all get Ebola,’” Ousmane said.
“It’s not a fight,” Ousmane continued. “They assaulted these boys.”
The NYPD and Department of Education are both investigating the incident which left the Drame brothers hospitalized with severe bruising and swelling.
“They were very happy and ready to learn, and this situation that happened has dampened their learning prospects,” Charles Cooper, chairman of the African Advisory Council, told DNAinfo. “I know one of the children has said they wanted to go back because this not what they expected.”
