Deadly attack on beach near tourist hotels in Tunisia

A beach attached to the tourist complex of Port El Kantaoui near the city of Sousse in central Tunisia has been attacked by gunmen. Dozens of people have been reported killed and injured.

Friday, June 26

14:56 GMT:

14:48 GMT:

The number of casualties in Friday’s attack has risen to 36, RIA Novosti cited the Tunisian health minister as saying. According to the source, 10 of the injured are in critical condition.

14:33 GMT:

Three people killed on the beach were “elderly people,” two women and one man, an eyewitness told LifeNews.

Russian tourist Aleksey Petrov staying in a nearby hotel said he was in the lobby around 11:50am local time when he saw “concerned” security people “running towards the beach.” The man followed them and saw “three elderly people there who have been shot,” he told LifeNews.

One of the police officers at the beach told him 10 Russians had been killed, Petrov said, adding that he hoped it wasn’t true.

14:27 GMT:

RT’s latest report on the attack:

Video: /files/news/41/e9/30/00/tun_web.mp4

13:55 GMT:

The gunmen arrived at the scene by sea on an inflatable boat, TASS reported, citing Tunisian radio Mosaique FM, who referred to eyewitnesses. The attackers first opened fire at tourists on the beach and then entered the Imperial Marhaba Hotel and began firing from the machine gun that they carried in an umbrella case. They also carried grenades, according to witnesses.

13:53 GMT:

The death toll has risen to 30 people, RIA Novosti reported, citing a source in the Interior Ministry. Three people who had been injured are believed to have died, the source said.

13:42 GMT:

Airplane destined for #Sousse region in #Tunisia returns to Brussels — what will others do? pic.twitter.com/dHKLuKh4dN

— Anno Bunnik بونيك (@Eurabist) June 26, 2015

13:36 GMT:

British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the “appalling” attacks on Friday at a news conference in Brussels at the end of the EU summit.

“This is a threat that faces all of us, these events that have taken place today in Tunisia and in France, but they can happen anywhere – we all face this threat,” he told reporters, as cited by Reuters.

Britain’s emergency response committee COBRA will meet later on Friday “to make sure we are doing everything we can to cooperate and coordinate with other countries,” Cameron said

13:35 GMT:

Freelance journalist Bel Trew describes scene in Sousse

13:33 GMT:

The police operation to catch the second gunman is ongoing as are exchanges of fire, Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said, adding that another gunman behind “the terrorist attack was killed during an exchange of fire with security forces.”

“A terrorist infiltrated the buildings from the back before opening fire on the residents of the hotel, including foreigners and Tunisians,” the official said.