Two
gunmen opened fire at a beachfront hotel packed with holiday makers
yesterday killing 38 - with 36 seriously injured. Majority of the people
killed are British followed by Germans, then Belgians. ISIS has since
taken credit for the brutal massacre.
One of the killers, who has been identified as Abu Yahya Qayrawani, 23 (pictured above) was reportedly seen laughing and joking with holidaymakers, looking like any other tourist but
used the time to carefully select the victims he would murder with a
Kalashnikov hidden in his parasol. The were said to be his primary
target. See more photos after the cut...
Culled from UK Daily Mail
'He
was laughing and joking around, like a normal guy,' said one witness.
'He was choosing who to shoot. Some people, he was saying to them 'you
go away'. He was choosing tourists, British, French.'
Tom
Richards, a university graduate who was on holiday with his mother and
younger brother, found himself face-to-face with a man with 'long black
hair and a beard', between 20 to 25.
He
and his mother Sam had fled from the pool when they heard the shots
ring out, but were confronted with the Kalashnikov-wielding terrorist
inside the hotel, where they were sheltering with other guests.
The
gunman shot two people in the head, before turning his attention to Mr
Richards. The 22-year-old told The Guardian: 'He looked right at me, I
thought I was dead.'
But
instead of shooting Mr Richards, he shot the floor - allowing Mr
Richards and his mother, who were injured by shards of marble, to escape
to a nearby toilet.
'I don’t know why he stopped. He could have killed everybody,' he said.
Many tourists barricaded themselves in their rooms after the 23-year-old student opened fire.
In another chilling account, Ibrahim el-Ghoul revealed how the killer had been smiling.
The
trainee mechanic, who works part-time at hotel nearby, said the gunman
told him 'I don't want to kill you; I want to hit tourists,' according
to The Independent.
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| The terrorist after he was killed by police |
Olivia
Leathley, 24, a chef from Chorlton, Manchester, said she and her
boyfriend escaped the massacre at the Imperial Marhaba hotel only
because she was charging her phone.
'We
then heard a shot from inside the hotel. Somebody just shouted 'run' so
we sprinted off in all directions,' she said. 'The machine gun fire was
so close, it sounded like it was right behind us.
'I was then on the phone to my dad, screaming at the top of my lungs and telling him 'I love you, I love you'.
'My
dad Glenn was saying 'I love you' and shouting prayers down the phone,
begging 'Lord, protect them'. We eventually found an office building and
hid in a room. As soon as I got somewhere safe, I threw up.
'I
later came across a woman who said her husband had been shot in the
stomach on the beach. He was bleeding heavily, but she had to leave him
there.'
A hotel
worker said a shoeless Yacoubi, who arrived on the beach by inflatable
boat, had tried to blend in with the crowd. He added: 'He opened fire
with a Kalashnikov. He was a young guy dressed in shorts – like he was a
tourist himself.'
Rafik
Chelli, Tunisia's secretary of state for national security, said the
gunman – named locally as Yacoubi – entered the Marhaba complex through
the pool area.
'He
entered by the beach, dressed like someone who was going to swim, and
he had a beach umbrella with his gun in it. Then when he came to the
beach he used his weapon,' Mr Chelli said. Yacoubi was shot dead by the
security forces.
Because
of the Ramadan religious period, there were few Tunisians on the beach
and few children because most schools have yet to break up.
Houcine Jenayah, a businessman, said the gunman arrived at speed on an inflatable Zodiac boat.
'He opened fire and had grenades with him,' said Mr Jenayah. 'He hid his Kalashnikov behind a parasol that he had in his hand.'
Within
minutes of the massacre, photographs had been posted on an Instagram
account showing a middle-aged man wearing blue shorts lying face down in
the sand with a pool of blood around his head.
Other bodies were covered with towels and marked with numbers.
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| A woman launches a furious attack on a man apparently arrested over the shootings |
Father-of-three
John Yeoman, 46, of Kettering, Northamptonshire, used a bed to
barricade himself and his family in the room of his hotel. 'We were in
the pool when we heard automatic gunfire. People ran past saying there
was an armed man on the beach,' he said.
Tweeting
a picture of his barricaded room, he added: 'Hope it's enough. It's
been going on for 20 minutes. We blocked in our room. There are sounds
of a gun battle.'
The
final moments of the terrorist were captured on camera as, weapon in
hand, he prowled the streets of Sousse. With the gunman dead, police
pursued suspects through the streets of Sousse, which is about 90 miles
south of the capital Tunis.
More than three hours after the massacre an apparent accomplice was arrested near the motorway.
Pictures showed him being punched in the face by a furious woman as he was marched through the town by armed police.
Police
were pictured detaining several men in the aftermath of the carnage but
it was not clear last night whether the suspects were connected to the
attack.
While
there were multiple accounts of what happened, most witnesses spoke of a
lone gunman who was later shot dead by the Tunisian security forces.
