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| Tunisia attack: multiple deaths reported at beach resort – live updates | Tunisia attack: multiple deaths reported at beach resort – live updates |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 2.21pm BST14:21 | |
| Vikram Dodd | |
| Scotland Yard said it was “monitoring the situation” after the attacks in Tunisia and France. It said it constantly reviews security and urged the public to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious. It said the threat level to the UK from international terrorism remained “severe” , which means an attack remains highly likely. | |
| 2.20pm BST14:20 | |
| Andrew Sparrow | |
| David Cameron said the British government’s Cobra emergency committee would meeting in London this afternoon to discuss the implications of the terror atrocities. | |
| At a news conference in Brussels, at the end of the EU summit, the prime minister condemned the “appalling” attacks and offered “sympathy, condolences and solidarity”. | |
| He went on: “This is a threat that faces all of us. These events have taken place in Tunisia and in France but they can take place anywhere. We all face this threat.” | |
| A minister would be chairing the Cobra meeting, he said, to ensure “we are doing everything we can to cooperate and coordinate with other countries” and to share information with them. | |
| He said the government was already engaged in the fight against terrorism, but that it was also important to challenge the causes of radicalisation. | |
| We also have to deal - perhaps more important than anything - with this poisonous, radical narrative that is turning so many young minds. And we have to combat it with everything that we have. | |
| The people who do these things, they sometimes claim that they do it in the name of Islam. They don’t. Islam is a religion of peace. They do it in the name of a twisted and perverted ideology that we have to confront with everything that we have. And we must stop the poisoning of these young minds in our country, in other European countries, and around the world. | |
| 2.18pm BST14:18 | |
| John Yeoman on Twitter described the terror as it unfolded: | |
| There has been a shooting on the beach at our hotel it's been going on for 20 mins | |
| We were in the pool when we heard automatic gun fire. People ran past saying there was an armed man on the beach | |
| We don't know if the police or army are here we are very scared | |
| Hope it's enough pic.twitter.com/XaW4yTpplU | |
| The gunman was shout in our hotel by armed police there a reports of a child amongst the dead. We are all in shock here. | |
| 2.08pm BST14:08 | |
| According to some estimates there are more Tunisians fighting for Islamic State (Isis) than combatants from any other single country, even though it is one of the most secular countries in the Arab world. | |
| The attackers behind March’s attack on the National Bardo Museum, which also targeted tourists, were believed to have returned from fighting in neighbouring Libya. | |
| In February, Tunisia arrested 32 would-be attackers, some of whom were returning from fighting in Syria, who planned “spectacular” attacks, officials said. | |
| Updated at 2.13pm BST | |
| 1.57pm BST13:57 | |
| Here is audio of an interview with Susan Ricketts and her sister, who told Sky News they were on the beach when they heard gunfire. Ricketts said: | |
| Everybody just started running in and screaming. The whole place just cleared. | |
| 1.55pm BST13:55 | |
| The interior ministry says most of the dead are tourists, according to AP. The attack has echoes of that on the National Bardo museum in Tunis, in March, which saw 22 people killed, mostly foreign tourists. | |
| 1.40pm BST13:40 | 1.40pm BST13:40 |
| 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. | 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. |
| Elizabeth O’Brien, from Dublin, told RTE raido: | Elizabeth O’Brien, from Dublin, told RTE raido: |
| 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 - because I thought it was fireworks,. | 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 - because I thought it was fireworks,. |
| So, I thought ‘oh my God, it sounds like gunfire’, so I just ran to the sea to my children and grabbed our things and as I was running towards the hotel, the waiters and the security on the beach started saying ‘run, run run!’ and we just ran to our room, which is like a little bungalow. So we are actually trapped in our room. | So, I thought ‘oh my God, it sounds like gunfire’, so I just ran to the sea to my children and grabbed our things and as I was running towards the hotel, the waiters and the security on the beach started saying ‘run, run run!’ and we just ran to our room, which is like a little bungalow. So we are actually trapped in our room. |
| O’Brien said the Irish consul in Madrid, Spain, called her to say it was a terrorist attack in the hotel next door and told her to stay where she was. She said: | O’Brien said the Irish consul in Madrid, Spain, called her to say it was a terrorist attack in the hotel next door and told her to stay where she was. She said: |
| My travel agent told me to go to the reception to speak to the rep, but I’m afraid. I’m stuck in the room with my two sons, not knowing what’s going on. | My travel agent told me to go to the reception to speak to the rep, but I’m afraid. I’m stuck in the room with my two sons, not knowing what’s going on. |
| 1.33pm BST13:33 | 1.33pm BST13:33 |
| A British tourist close to the scene of the attack has described his experiences to Sky News. | A British tourist close to the scene of the attack has described his experiences to Sky News. |
| Gary Pine said 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. | Gary Pine said 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. |
| “There was a mass exodus off the beach,” he said. He said his son had seen someone get shot on the beach. | “There was a mass exodus off the beach,” he said. He said his son had seen someone get shot on the beach. |
| He said guests at his hotel were first told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby. | He said guests at his hotel were first told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby. |
| 1.30pm BST13:30 | 1.30pm BST13:30 |
| Opening summary | Opening summary |
| 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. | 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. |
| The attack was on the Imperial Marhaba hotel, a source and local radio said. | The attack was on the Imperial Marhaba hotel, a source and local radio said. |
| 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 gunman armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle lay where police had shot him dead. It was unclear whether there were other assailants. |
| Sousse, some 150 kilometres from Tunis, is a popular resort for both Tunisians and Europeans. | Sousse, some 150 kilometres from Tunis, is a popular resort for both Tunisians and Europeans. |
| Updated at 1.33pm BST | Updated at 1.33pm BST |