A terrified York man has told YorkMix how he and his girlfriend barricaded themselves inside their hotel room as terrorists launched a murderous attack on the beach near where they were staying.
Film he shot as the attack was still ongoing shows tourists fleeing for their lives.
Matthew Kenyon, 21, and his girlfriend Diane Darlington, also 21, were relaxing on sun-loungers on a beach in the resort of Sousse, Tunisia, when they heard gunshots nearby.
They fled inside their hotel near to the Hotel Imperial Marhaba, where the attack is thought to have happened.
A gunman opened fire on tourists relaxing on the beach killing at least 37 people and injuring 36. The gunman has been shot dead.
Matthew, who is from Clifton, had to “barricade himself” inside their hotel room to stay safe.
Matthew, who works for York Handmade Brick Company, told us:
We barricaded our door in the hotel room, heard gunfire and no one moved.
But the birds flew away then it happened again and everyone started running. I saw everyone running cause there was gunfire very close.
My initial reaction was to get the girlfriend and run to our room where we have barricaded ourselves in.
‘I can’t stop shaking’
Matthew had booked the holiday with tour operator Thomson to celebrate Diane’s 21st birthday. Once the all clear is given he wants to find out how to get the first flight home.
He told us:
There’s dead people less than 100 metres away.
In a statement, Thomson holidays said:
Meanwhile, sales executive for York radio station Minster FM, Sally Groome, has told how she saw people running to her nearby hotel after hearing gunshots.
Speaking to Minster FM she said: “I can’t stop shaking, I have never experienced anything like this in my entire life.
“There have seen so many police vehicles and sirens, all heading towards what we think is the beach.
“It’s absolute bedlam.”
One gunman dead, another hunted
According to the Tunisian interior ministry, at least 37 people have been killed in the attack. Most are believed to be foreign visitors.
One gunman has been killed.
The resort attack comes after Tunisia was placed on high alert following a militant attack in March on a museum in the capital Tunis, when 22 people were killed.
And it happened on a day of terror around the world. In Kuwait, 25 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a suicide bomb, while a victim was decapitated in France.