Tunisia Killer 'Showed No Emotion'

Tunisia Killer 'Showed No Emotion'

A gas engineer who was shot three times during the Tunisian beach massacre has told of the moment he shielded his fiancee and told her: "I'm going to die."

Matthew James, 30, described seeing gunman Seifeddine Rezgui firing at holidaymakers as they sunbathed in the resort of Sousse, saying he showed "no emotion in his face" as he took the lives of 38 people.

He is still recovering in hospital in Cardiff more than a week after the attack as the bodies of the 30 Britons killed were repatriated and inquests into their deaths opened.

More inquests are expected to be formally opened today into the deaths of British tourists killed in the Tunisia terror attack.

Mr James, in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, said upon hearing the gunshots he immediately flung himself and partner Saera Wilson, 26, to the ground.

"When I heard the first shot I reacted without thinking, I remember grabbing Saera, turning her around and falling on top of her. That's when I was shot. It didn't hurt at first. It was a strange feeling and I said to Saera, 'Jesus, I have been shot'," he told the paper.

"I was angry and panicking. I was lying facing Saera under the sunbed. I said, 'Babe, babe, I'm going to die'. That's when I told her to tell the kids I loved them and that she had to get away for them. I didn't want her to go but I knew they needed to have one parent at least."

Having been shot three times, Mr James recalled seeing Rezgui from his prone position on the sand, witnessing the gunman turn over sunbeds and "making sure they were dead".

"There was no emotion in his face. He looked like a postman going about his business but instead of delivering letters he was strolling around shooting people," he added.

With wounds in the shoulder, chest and hip, Mr James managed to reach the Imperial Hotel as Miss Wilson searched for him among the dead being brought into the nearby Belle Vue hotel. They were reunited after holiday reps told her he had been taken to hospital.

The couple had left their two children, Tegan, six, and Kaden, 14 months, at home with their family when they set off to Sousse on June 21 for a two-week holiday.

His revelations come as the Government announced it would fund a permanent memorial to those killed, while Rezgui's mother told the Sunday Times her son had once refused to kill a mouse.

West London Coroner's Court has heard details of the beach massacre as inquests into the deaths of 12 of the 30 British victims were opened, eight on Friday and four yesterday.

The final five bodies of the murdered Britons - Lisa Burbidge, Stuart Cullen, Christopher Dyer, Bruce Wilkinson and Claire Windass - arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire in an RAF C-17 aircraft.

Tunisia's president has declared a state of emergency in the wake of the attack that shocked the north African country nine days ago.

Yesterday's inquest heard William Graham, 51, died from gunshot wounds to his pelvis while his wife Lisa, 50, died from gunshot wounds to her chest.

James and Ann McQuire, aged 66 and 63, were both fatally shot in the chest, the coroner was told.

Their bodies were repatriated to London for post-mortem examinations to be carried out and will now be taken to Scotland, at the families' request. They were all formally identified by their dental records.

Chinyere Inyama, senior coroner for west London, said the victims' bodies would be released to their families and authorised transportation to Scotland.

"I'm going to suspend the investigation pending completion of parallel investigations in both Tunisia and the UK," he said.

The inquests have been adjourned for a date to be set.

Rezgui opened fire in the resort of Sousse at around 11.15am on Friday June 26.

Detective Sergeant David Batt of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command told the inquest the shootings lasted around 30 minutes.

"Tourists were indiscriminately targeted by the gunman," he said in a statement read during the hearings.

"The gunman was shot by security services."

The bodies of the victims were moved to the central mortuary in Tunis after they were killed, he added.

"Senior UK police identification managers have assisted in Tunisia and in the UK to oversee the identification process," he said.

Mr Batt said 275 witness accounts had been taken by police so far, and more than 1,200 potential witnesses have returned to the UK.

"Accounts are being taken from those who are deemed significant," he added.

Police were patrolling the streets around the coroner's court and a large number of officers guarded a fenced-off area surrounding a white tent close to the building.

Flowers and cards were piled on the pavement nearby.

On Friday the Queen and the Prime Minister joined millions of people across the country in a minute's silence in tribute to those killed.

Close

What's Hot