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Tunisia attack: Victim 'played dead' as husband killed | Tunisia attack: Victim 'played dead' as husband killed |
(35 minutes later) | |
A holidaymaker "played dead" next to her husband's body while a gunman killed 38 people at a Tunisian beach resort in 2015, an inquest has heard. | A holidaymaker "played dead" next to her husband's body while a gunman killed 38 people at a Tunisian beach resort in 2015, an inquest has heard. |
Allison Heathcote, 50, survived five gunshot wounds but husband Philip, then 53, died in the attack near Sousse. | Allison Heathcote, 50, survived five gunshot wounds but husband Philip, then 53, died in the attack near Sousse. |
The pair, from Suffolk, had been on their 30th wedding anniversary holiday. | The pair, from Suffolk, had been on their 30th wedding anniversary holiday. |
Mrs Heathcote's statement was being read at the inquest into the deaths of 30 Britons killed by Islamist gunman Seifeddine Rezgui on 26 June. | Mrs Heathcote's statement was being read at the inquest into the deaths of 30 Britons killed by Islamist gunman Seifeddine Rezgui on 26 June. |
The couple, who have a son, had arrived at the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel the day before the attack. | The couple, who have a son, had arrived at the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel the day before the attack. |
Mrs Heathcote, who was seriously injured by the gunman, did not attend the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. | Mrs Heathcote, who was seriously injured by the gunman, did not attend the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. |
In a statement read on her behalf, she described feeling "pure fear" as Rezgui wounded her, killed her husband, then walked away to murder others. | In a statement read on her behalf, she described feeling "pure fear" as Rezgui wounded her, killed her husband, then walked away to murder others. |
She and Mr Heathcoate were on the beach where Rezgui launched his attack and had "dived into the sand between the sun beds", but were found by the gunman. | She and Mr Heathcoate were on the beach where Rezgui launched his attack and had "dived into the sand between the sun beds", but were found by the gunman. |
She added: "I stayed laying on the sand, trying not to move and draw attention to the fact that I was still alive." | She added: "I stayed laying on the sand, trying not to move and draw attention to the fact that I was still alive." |
'Didn't make it' | 'Didn't make it' |
Once the gunshots faded, Mrs Heathcote said she asked her husband if he was ok. | |
"At the first opportunity I was asking Phil if he was alright and I realised he had not made it," she said. | "At the first opportunity I was asking Phil if he was alright and I realised he had not made it," she said. |
Mrs Heathcote, who lived with her husband in Felixstowe, was shot in the arm and abdomen and spent a month in an induced coma, the inquest heard. | Mrs Heathcote, who lived with her husband in Felixstowe, was shot in the arm and abdomen and spent a month in an induced coma, the inquest heard. |
"I was conscious that I had been shot elsewhere but do not remember bleeding." | "I was conscious that I had been shot elsewhere but do not remember bleeding." |
The inquest is set to hear evidence about each of the 30 Britons killed in the attack. | The inquest is set to hear evidence about each of the 30 Britons killed in the attack. |
Who were the British victims? | |
Ex-police officer Michael Perry, who went to Tunisia with wife Angela, was one survivor to address the inquest in person. | |
The pair were on the beach when Mr Perry saw a "man in black" - the gunman Rezgui - whom he mistook for a policeman. | |
"My initial thought was that this was a police officer and he was dealing with a terrorist," he said from the witness box. "Then I realised this was the terrorist." | |
Mr Perry, who retired as a Leicestershire police chief superintendent in 1998, told the inquest that the gunman fired in an "uncontrolled manner", suggesting he had the gun in automatic mode - where pulling the trigger results in a hail of bullets. | |
"He was facing in our direction and aiming downwards at people who were in the sun beds," he said. | |
He added that there were no armed guards at the hotel, when questioned by the lawyer for the victims' families, Andrew Ritchie. | |
"The staff were mainly female, [there was a] lot of hysteria and panic and running around," he said. | |
Mr Perry and his wife hid in the basement of the spa building before creeping up to the third floor, where they saw Rezgui shoot three people by the poolside. |