Tunisia Massacre Survivor 'Expected To Die'

A British woman has told how she "expected to die" after she saw a man produce a gun from a beach parasol and open fire on holidaymakers in Tunisia.

Ellie Makin, from Ripon, who had been on the beach with her friend recalled her fear as she and others fled the armed attacker, who killed at least 15 Britons in the terror attack at the coastal resort.

She hid in a hotel room for more than an hour, staying away from the windows, as she heard the shooting getting closer.

Messaging her mum back home in Yorkshire from her hiding place, she said: "I was fearing for my life.

"I didn't think I was coming home.

"I expected to die out there."

Emerging once the danger had passed she said of witnessing the aftermath: "It was horrific.

"Seeing all this blood, all these bodies left right and centre.

"It was just the most horrific experience of my life."

Recounting first spotting the attacker, Ms Makin said: "He had an umbrella in his hand. Next minute he dropped this parasol and out came this gun.

"He started shooting. He mainly shot to the right-hand side. If he had shot to the left I don't think we would have been here today.

"All I did was shout 'run, there's a gun'."

Fleeing back to the hotel, she said: "The noise was overpowering.

"When we were running in all you could hear were these grenades being thrown and explosions.

"I thought I was in a dream and needed to wake up. It was just awful.

"I was so frightened."

Another survivor of the Tunisian terror attack, who was shot in the foot by the gunman, has told how he barricaded himself in his hotel room and kept "down low" until the shooting stopped.

Ross Thomson, who is being treated in hospital for his injuries, described how he ran for his life amid the sound of gunfire.

Mr Thomson told Sky News: "We managed to hide, get the room barricaded, get down low and hide basically and wait."

Another Briton, Rebecca Smith, suffered injuries to her face and head in an explosion.

She recalled how she locked herself in the staff toilets and "hoped for the best" as she could hear the screams and gunfire.

Ms Smith said: "It was horrendous. It was an absolute bloodbath.

"We just locked ourselves in and hoped for the best. We couldn't do anything."

Leiha Marie Shaw and her mother Amanda Roberts, who were on the second day of their holiday in Tunisia, described how they ran for their lives as they heard the sound of gunfire.

Forced to flee barefoot, the ground was so hot they suffered burns to their feet.

Now safely home in Swansea, Ms Shaw said: "I have never been so frightened in all my life."

The sense of panic was added to because they did not know where the shots were coming from.

"It was the sheer panic," Mr Shaw added.

Stories of heroism have also emerged from the beach massacre, with one woman describing how her fiance used his body as a shield and told her to save herself as they came under fire.

Sarah Wilson said Matthew James - who she lives with in Pontypridd, South Wales - was shot three times as he used his body to protect her.

She said the gas engineer was hit in his shoulder, chest and hip on the sunbeds at Sousse beach.

He survived but suffered a heart attack and a shattered pelvis.

Ms Wilson said: "He took a bullet for me. I owe him my life because he threw himself in front of me when the shooting started.

"He was covered in blood from the shots but he just told me to run away.

"He told me: 'I love you babe. But just go - tell our children that their daddy loves them.'

"It was the bravest thing I've ever known. But I just had to leave him under the sunbed because the shooting just kept on coming.

"I ran back, past bodies on the beach to reach our hotel.

"It was chaos - there was a body in the hotel pool and it was just full of blood.

"You just can't explain how terrible it was. It was chaos with screaming and gunshots.

"I'm just so glad Matthew is alive because so many other people are dead."

Dr Anis Hamza, Medical Director at Les Oliviers Clinic in Tunisia, explained how they have treated fifteen victims, of which 13 were British.

Two were in intensive care with gunshot wounds but were now out of danger.

And he revealed how ordinary Tunisians had helped those hurt get to hospital.

"Even (ordinary) people, they bring in their cars injured patients," he said.

Meanwhile, Zohra Driss, the owner of the hotel where the attack was carried out, has expressed her sorrow at the atrocity and expressed her condolences to the families of those killed.

She said in Tunisia "the terrorists are attacking democracy".