IT was a touching tribute paid by Hampshire children to their counterparts thousands of miles away.

Youngsters in Southampton lit candles and said prayers in memory of those killed in a brutal and horrific terrorist attack on a school in Pakistan.

Parents watched on as their children led the way at the commemorative event at the Peace Fountain in East Park.

The event was organised by members of the Pakistani community and Southampton mosques, including the Abu Bakr and Medina Mosques, to show support to the families of the 145 people, including 132 children, killed in the massacre.

Shocking images were shown across the world after gunmen went from class to class shooting pupils at the Army Public School in Peshawar, in the north west of the country.

The Pakistani Taliban said it had carried out Tuesday's attack to avenge army-led operations against them in Khyber and North Waziristan areas.

Although many families in Hampshire have links to the area where the massacre took place, it appears that no one living in the county has been directly affected.

One of the organisers of the tribute at Southampton's Peace Fountain was the Pakistan Welfare Association of Southampton.

Daily Echo:

The association's general secretary Ahmed Hussain said: “Everybody feels for the people affected by it. Everybody who was here is sorry and reacting in their own way but this sort of thing should never happen at all, anywhere - not only Pakistan.

“It's just dreadful. People have no excuse and we're really sorry.

“I just don't have a word to describe such a disaster. Everybody felt for it and I really thank all the communities for coming together.

“It's a comfort for the families, and rest of the community as well, that everybody felt that way.

“It's fortunate that so far that nobody has come to me and said they have been directly affected. We do have quite a few people in Southampton who are from that area.”

People across the globe have spoken of their grief for the schoolchildren and staff killed in the atrocity, and shown their support to their mourning families.

Daily Echo:

Among the well wishers is British boxing world champion Amir Khan, 28, who has spoken out and vowed to rebuild the school.

Khan, whose parents were born in Pakistan, is planning to travel to the country before the end of the year.