Sousse beach attack: Families of victims await answers

Families of the 30 Britons killed in a terror attack at a Tunisian resort are to hear the conclusions of an inquest later after a six-week long hearing.

In all, 38 people were killed when an Islamist gunman opened fire at a hotel in Sousse on 26 June 2015.

The inquest examined whether the UK government and travel firms failed to protect British tourists.

Families wanted the coroner to consider whether neglect was a factor in their deaths, but he has ruled this out.

Coroner Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith will give his reasons for that decision and is expected to say that all 30 Britons were unlawfully killed.

He has also said he would not be able to make judgements or give opinions as they fall outside his remit, and advised families the final day could be “a bit of an anti-climax” for them.

What exactly happened on the day?

The attack at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba hotel was the deadliest on Britons since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

The gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, was later shot dead by police.

Survivor Allen Pembroke told the BBC how he found people lying in pools of blood among sun loungers close to the water’s edge.

He gave first aid to British holidaymaker Cheryl Mellor, who was still alive after being shot in the leg and arm, but drifting in and out of consciousness.

He said he was alone on the beach for 20 minutes checking on the dead and injured, with no help from anyone else.

“I saw no military or medical staff and it’s only in recent reports that I found out that the police waited, they fainted, they hid.

“That’s unforgivable, they need to be accountable for that,” he said.

The inquest has previously heard that “part of the attack or most of it could have been prevented” had security been tighter.

Tour operator TUI has been accused of failing to vet security at the hotel, but the firm has argued “matters could have been worse” during the attack.

Thirty of the 38 people killed were British

The inquest, which began on 16 January at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, also heard evidence that:

Tunisian security forces “deliberately and unjustifiably slowed down” their arrival at the hotel

Four unarmed guards manned the hotel where the attack took place, despite the resort being a known terror risk

UK officials had been told of security concerns in Sousse six months before the attack, but decided against
discouraging all travel to Tunisia

TUI’s website did not have any reference to a terror attack in Tunisia months earlier in March 2015 at the Bardo National Museum, where 22 people, including 20 tourists, were killed

Some survivors “played dead” during the attack

The Tunisian ambassador to the UK, Nabil Ammar, said his country had been unprepared for such an attack and it was unfair to blame police.

“How can you imagine that police deliberately wanted people to die?” he asked BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Since the attack, he said security in the country and in hotels had improved, and Tunisia was now considered as safe a destination as London.

Tunisia should, he added, be shown the same solidarity shown to other countries which have experienced similar attacks.

Andrew Ritchie, who is representing 20 victims’ families, told the inquest they believed TUI’s “utter complacency” amounted to neglect.

He said the guards at the Riu Imperial Marhaba had not been an effective deterrent and the lack of CCTV had made it a target.

But Howard Stevens, counsel for TUI, said even if there had been additional CCTV cameras or guards it “cannot be said that any of these measures would probably have made a difference”.

The travel company maintained it was “wholly erroneous” to claim it had been neglectful and there was insufficient evidence of any gross failure.

Source: BBC