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| Families and survivors mark anniversary of Tunisia beach massacre | Families and survivors mark anniversary of Tunisia beach massacre |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Survivors of the Sousse beach massacre gathered on the sand outside the Imperial Marhaba hotel to mark the moment, one year ago, when a lone gunman killed 38 tourists. | Survivors of the Sousse beach massacre gathered on the sand outside the Imperial Marhaba hotel to mark the moment, one year ago, when a lone gunman killed 38 tourists. |
| “I came here to pay my respects,” said Charlotte Todd, 26, who was on holiday here the day gunman Seifeddine Rezgui wreaked havoc on this Tunisian beach. | “I came here to pay my respects,” said Charlotte Todd, 26, who was on holiday here the day gunman Seifeddine Rezgui wreaked havoc on this Tunisian beach. |
| Thirty British tourists were among those killed in an attack in which many people were shot as they lay on sun loungers in swimsuits. Todd, from Leeds, was further down the beach when the gunman struck shortly before midday on 26 June. “We didn’t know what it was, they told us to run. The next thing there are police, helicopters,” she said. | Thirty British tourists were among those killed in an attack in which many people were shot as they lay on sun loungers in swimsuits. Todd, from Leeds, was further down the beach when the gunman struck shortly before midday on 26 June. “We didn’t know what it was, they told us to run. The next thing there are police, helicopters,” she said. |
| In the morning, a knot of survivors and beach workers gathered on the sand to mark the hour when the attack started. | |
| Later in the day, white roses were laid for each of the victims in a formal ceremony at the spot where many died. Tobias Ellwood, the foreign minister for the Middle East and North Africa, laid one white rose for each of the British victims, with diplomats laying roses for victims from Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Portugal and Russia. Elwood made no comments, but the Irish ambassador, David Cooney, who laid roses for three Irish victims, said: “I’m in contact with the families, you realise the pain is still going on.” | |
| Related: Tunisia keen to show tourists that it’s safe to return | Related: Tunisia keen to show tourists that it’s safe to return |
| In the UK, the family of 66-year-old Lisa Burbidge, from Gateshead, who was among those killed, held a remembrance service for the victims at St Mary’s church in Whickham followed by the unveiling of a memorial bench. | In the UK, the family of 66-year-old Lisa Burbidge, from Gateshead, who was among those killed, held a remembrance service for the victims at St Mary’s church in Whickham followed by the unveiling of a memorial bench. |
| After the service, attended by members of her family, a white rose was laid and a white balloon released in her memory, followed by more for each of the British, Irish, German, Belgian, Russian and Portuguese victims. | After the service, attended by members of her family, a white rose was laid and a white balloon released in her memory, followed by more for each of the British, Irish, German, Belgian, Russian and Portuguese victims. |
| The ceremony in and outside the church in the town that was Burbidge’s home for 40 years was one of many public and private events held on the anniversary by the families and friends of the British and three Irish victims, who included several married couples and three generations of one family. | The ceremony in and outside the church in the town that was Burbidge’s home for 40 years was one of many public and private events held on the anniversary by the families and friends of the British and three Irish victims, who included several married couples and three generations of one family. |
| At noon on Monday, a minute’s silence will be observed in government buildings across the UK and in British embassies overseas to pay respect to the dead and those who were affected by the attack. | At noon on Monday, a minute’s silence will be observed in government buildings across the UK and in British embassies overseas to pay respect to the dead and those who were affected by the attack. |
| Unlike most Britons, who have since shunned Tunisia’s beaches, Todd has returned to Sousse to live in an apartment near the street where Rezgui was shot dead by security forces at the end of his 40-minute rampage. | Unlike most Britons, who have since shunned Tunisia’s beaches, Todd has returned to Sousse to live in an apartment near the street where Rezgui was shot dead by security forces at the end of his 40-minute rampage. |
| “I’m not afraid; there’s nothing to be afraid of, this place is as safe as anywhere,” she said. “I’ve been coming to Tunisia since I was little. If it’s going to happen [a terrorist attack], it’s going to happen. It can happen anywhere.” | |
| The Imperial Mahaba remains closed, the sand outside an empty gap in miles of Sousse beaches again crowded with tourists. | The Imperial Mahaba remains closed, the sand outside an empty gap in miles of Sousse beaches again crowded with tourists. |
| Belgian Mark Aosse, 65, came to remember three British friends who were killed in the hail of bullets. He and his wife, Nadine, 63, were part of a small community of visitors who returned year after year. He was buying a beer in the bar next to the beach when Rezgui opened fire. | |
| “I saw the bullets flying into the sand, the clients [tourists] fell down,” he said. | “I saw the bullets flying into the sand, the clients [tourists] fell down,” he said. |
| Shouting warnings in English, Flemish, French and German, he and his wife joined tourists who fled to an underground storeroom. There, he and a British tourist each picked up a heavy clay flowerpot, standing either side of the door ready to hit the gunman if he broke in. | Shouting warnings in English, Flemish, French and German, he and his wife joined tourists who fled to an underground storeroom. There, he and a British tourist each picked up a heavy clay flowerpot, standing either side of the door ready to hit the gunman if he broke in. |
| Related: The Tunisian who rescued tourists after terror attack: what happened next | Related: The Tunisian who rescued tourists after terror attack: what happened next |
| Alongside an official memorial donated by the British government, tourists and hotel workers added their own impromptu sign on the beach this morning, bearing the words: “We all stand together [and] with a great sadness in our hearts remember the devastating events of that year.” | Alongside an official memorial donated by the British government, tourists and hotel workers added their own impromptu sign on the beach this morning, bearing the words: “We all stand together [and] with a great sadness in our hearts remember the devastating events of that year.” |
| There were meetings between survivors and the beach staff who had saved their lives. Aosse embraced Jihed Hassen, 34, who ran a beachcraft stand outside the hotel, and helped form the human chain of beach staff who protected tourists further down the beach from the advancing gunman. | There were meetings between survivors and the beach staff who had saved their lives. Aosse embraced Jihed Hassen, 34, who ran a beachcraft stand outside the hotel, and helped form the human chain of beach staff who protected tourists further down the beach from the advancing gunman. |
| Several dozen unarmed workers spread across the sand, barring Rezgui’s way and ignoring his threats to shoot them. “I was a bit afraid, but I had to do it,” said Hassen. “I don’t know how I did it [facing the gunman] but I knew I had to do it.” | Several dozen unarmed workers spread across the sand, barring Rezgui’s way and ignoring his threats to shoot them. “I was a bit afraid, but I had to do it,” said Hassen. “I don’t know how I did it [facing the gunman] but I knew I had to do it.” |
| Karim Sahloul, a front desk manager in the adjacent Palm Marina hotel, still has sleepless nights one year after he scurried on to the beach, braving the bullets, to staunch the blood of British tourist Allison Heathcote, who survived five bullet wounds. | Karim Sahloul, a front desk manager in the adjacent Palm Marina hotel, still has sleepless nights one year after he scurried on to the beach, braving the bullets, to staunch the blood of British tourist Allison Heathcote, who survived five bullet wounds. |
| Finding her motionless on her sunlounger, close to her husband who was killed in the attack, Sahloul used rudimentary first aid training to keep her alive until medics arrived. | Finding her motionless on her sunlounger, close to her husband who was killed in the attack, Sahloul used rudimentary first aid training to keep her alive until medics arrived. |
| Sahloul hopes soon to be in contact with Heathcote, who is still recovering in England. “If she travels and visits us, I will tell her, it is not easy, you take five shots, your husband dies. But you are still alive, you have a chance to live your life.” | Sahloul hopes soon to be in contact with Heathcote, who is still recovering in England. “If she travels and visits us, I will tell her, it is not easy, you take five shots, your husband dies. But you are still alive, you have a chance to live your life.” |
| Related: Tourists shun resorts from Egypt to Turkey in wake of Isis attacks | Related: Tourists shun resorts from Egypt to Turkey in wake of Isis attacks |
| Foreign office travel warnings have resulted in many Europeans, including the 400,000 Britons who visited Tunisia every year, staying away. But Sousse hotels are full again, mostly with Russians who have switched from Egypt after the destruction last October of a Russian airliner over Sinai. | |
| However, tourism numbers are down, with many shops and businesses closed, worsening an already troubled economy. For Rafik Gadhgadhi, another beach worker who joined the human chain, the attack has cast a long shadow. His English wife, who lives in Manchester, stopped visiting Sousse with their son, who is now two and a half. “Before, she would bring him every month, we would be together. Since then she says Tunisia is too dangerous.” | However, tourism numbers are down, with many shops and businesses closed, worsening an already troubled economy. For Rafik Gadhgadhi, another beach worker who joined the human chain, the attack has cast a long shadow. His English wife, who lives in Manchester, stopped visiting Sousse with their son, who is now two and a half. “Before, she would bring him every month, we would be together. Since then she says Tunisia is too dangerous.” |
| His attempts to visit wife and son in Britain have failed, with the Home Office hardening its appraisal of visas granted to Tunisians following the attack. “Its hard, most of all I want to see my son, to see him growing up, and I can’t see him,” said Gadhgadhi. | His attempts to visit wife and son in Britain have failed, with the Home Office hardening its appraisal of visas granted to Tunisians following the attack. “Its hard, most of all I want to see my son, to see him growing up, and I can’t see him,” said Gadhgadhi. |
| Tunisia is pressing the Foreign Office to end its travel warning, which has seen British tour companies scrap bookings, insisting the beaches are safe. “There is a big gap in the perception of security outside Tunisia compared to the real level of security on the ground,” said Tunisia’s ambassador to Britain, Nabil Ammar. “Politically speaking it is not the right answer to ban a country because it has suffered a terrorist attack.” | Tunisia is pressing the Foreign Office to end its travel warning, which has seen British tour companies scrap bookings, insisting the beaches are safe. “There is a big gap in the perception of security outside Tunisia compared to the real level of security on the ground,” said Tunisia’s ambassador to Britain, Nabil Ammar. “Politically speaking it is not the right answer to ban a country because it has suffered a terrorist attack.” |
| However, none of the 127 people arrested in the aftermath of the Sousse attack have been brought to trial, amid uncertainty about whether Rezgui operated as part of a terror cell, and weekly battles continue between Islamic State and security forces. Britain has deployed 20 troops in the south of the country to train the army in anti-terrorism skills, while the United States has quadrupled deliveries of military aid. | However, none of the 127 people arrested in the aftermath of the Sousse attack have been brought to trial, amid uncertainty about whether Rezgui operated as part of a terror cell, and weekly battles continue between Islamic State and security forces. Britain has deployed 20 troops in the south of the country to train the army in anti-terrorism skills, while the United States has quadrupled deliveries of military aid. |
| While the battle against Isis continues to rage, the country’s fragile democracy, delivered in its Arab spring revolution five years ago, has survived. “The bigger picture is the economy is very bad, but the politics is OK,” said Oxford University professor Michael Willis, a Tunisia specialist. | While the battle against Isis continues to rage, the country’s fragile democracy, delivered in its Arab spring revolution five years ago, has survived. “The bigger picture is the economy is very bad, but the politics is OK,” said Oxford University professor Michael Willis, a Tunisia specialist. |