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Deadly attack on Tunisia tourist hotel in resort of Sousse Deadly attack on Tunisia tourist hotel in Sousse resort
(35 minutes later)
Related: Tunisia beach resort attack: multiple deaths reported – live updatesRelated: Tunisia beach resort attack: multiple deaths reported – live updates
At least 27 people have been killed in an attack on a hotel in the Tunisian beach resort of Sousse, according to an interior ministry official quoted by Reuters. At least 27 people have been killed in a gun attack on a beach in front of hotels in the Tunisian resort of Sousse.
The attack was on the Imperial Marhaba hotel, a source and local radio said. Witnesses reported that gunmen opened fire on the beach between the Soviva and Imperial Marhaba hotels. Tunisia’s interior ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui told the state news agency the victims were mostly tourists but did not give any nationalities.
A security source at the scene said the body of one gunman armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle lay where police had shot him dead. It was unclear whether there were other assailants. A security source at the scene said the body of one attacker, armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, lay where police had shot him dead. There were reports that one other assailant was on the run.
Elizabeth O’Brien, an Irish woman on holiday with her two sons in the resort, described how she grabbed her children and ran for their lives when they heard gunfire erupting from one of the hotels. The attack in Tunisia came on the same day that a man was decapitated and several others injured in an attack with apparent Islamist connections at a factory in France.
“We were on the beach, my sons were in the sea and I just got out of the sea. It was about 12 o’clock and I just looked up about 500 metres from me and I saw a [hot air] balloon collapse down, then rapid firing, then I saw two of the people who were going to go up in the balloon start to run towards me,” she told RTE Radio. Tunisia has been on high alert since March when Islamist militants attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing a group of foreign tourists.
Gary Pine, a British tourist close to the scene of the attack, told Sky News he was on the beach and heard what “we thought was firecrackers going off” 100 yards away, followed by an explosion from the next hotel complex along. Sousse, 93 miles (150km) from Tunis, is one of Tunisia’s most popular beach resorts, drawing visitors from Europe and neighbouring north African countries.
“There was a mass exodus off the beach,” Pine said, adding that his son told him that he had seen someone get shot on the beach. Pine said guests at his hotel were first told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby. Speaking in Brussels, the British prime minister, David Cameron, offered “our solidarity in fighting this evil of terrorism”.
The British foreign office said it was urgently investigating the situation. Elizabeth O’Brien, an Irish woman on holiday with her two sons at the resort, described how she grabbed her children and ran when they heard gunfire coming from one of the hotels.
Sousse, 150kms (93 miles) from Tunis, is one of Tunisia’s most popular beach resorts, drawing visitors from Europe and neighbouring north African countries. There have been no details on the nationalities of those killed but during the holy month of Ramadan, those on the beach tend to be tourists. “We were on the beach; my sons were in the sea and I just got out of the sea. It was about 12 o’clock and I just looked up about 500 metres from me and I saw a [hot air] balloon collapse down, then rapid firing, then I saw two of the people who were going to go up in the balloon start to run towards me,” she told RTE Radio.
Tunisia has been on high alert since March when Islamist militant gunmen attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing a group of foreign tourists in one of the worst attacks in a decade in the north African country. Gary Pine, a British tourist, told Sky News he was on the beach and heard what “we thought was firecrackers going off” 100 metres away, followed by an explosion from the neighbouring hotel complex.
More details soon … “There was a mass exodus off the beach,” Pine said, adding that his son told him he had seen someone get shot on the beach. Pine said guests at his hotel were initially told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby.
The British Foreign Office said it was urgently investigating the situation.
The travel agency Thomas Cook said in a statement that it was trying to ascertain if its customers were affected. “At this time, details are not clear as to which property(ies) have been affected, with conflicting news reports. Our teams on the ground are offering every support to our customers and their families in the area. We will continue to monitor the situation, working closely with the FCO and local authorities.”
A spokeswoman for Thomson and First Choice said they were trying to determine if their properties in Tunisia were affected and to provide assistance to any customers who might be caught up in the attack.