At least five Britons have been confirmed dead in the terrorist attack on a Tunisian holiday resort, with the death toll expected to rise.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said because the resort is popular with holidaymakers from the UK “we have to assume that a high proportion of those killed and injured will have been British”.
An Irish tourist was also among the 37 people who died in the attack when a young gunman pulled out a Kalashnikov hidden in a beach parasol and opened fire on sunbathers at the beach resort of Sousse.
The worst such attack in Tunisia’s history came on the same day a man was found decapitated after an attack by suspected Islamic extremists on a French factory and a Shiite mosque in Kuwait was bombed killing at least 25 people.Man decapitated in suspected terror attack in FranceAlthough the attacks do not appear to be directly linked they come after the so-called Islamic State called for their followers “to make Ramadan a month of calamities for the nonbelievers”.
Tunisia’s Health Ministry confirmed that those killed included Britons, Tunisians, Germans and Belgians. Thirty six others have been wounded.
Bodies covered in blankets were strewn across the beach and medical staff used sun loungers as stretchers to carry away the dead and injured.
Despite initially believing there was more than one gunman, the Tunisian authorities later said the killer was thought to be a young student who had not previously been known to their security services.
Witnesses said he used a Kalashnikov to shoot the tourists sunbathing on the beach at the Riu Bellevue Park.
His killing spree ended when he was shot dead by police. A bomb was found on his body.
* For more coverage, including the stories of Scots near the scene, see Saturday’s Courier.