Tunisia inquest: Video shows people fleeing beach terror attack in Sousse

A video showing holidaymakers running for their lives as the Tunisia beach attack began has been shown at an inquest.

Several people are seen sprinting along the beach, while others take a few moments to realise something is wrong.

One man dives under the front of a boat, crawling around the side for protection from the bullets before running into the sea.

The footage shows speedboats passing close to the shore as the terror unfolds.

Thirty Britons were among 38 people who died in Sousse when Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi went on the rampage on the beach and inside a five-star hotel in June 2015.

A video showing the gunman being dropped off by a white van moments before the attack and casually walking off with a hold-all was also shown.

Footage also shows him stalking through the lobby of the hotel.

The inquest, at London's Royal Courts of Justice, was filled with the relatives of the Britons who died.

Video played on the first day also showed the moment 72-year-old grandfather Bruce Wilkinson, from East Yorkshire, was shot.

A woman, believed to be a member of his family, left before it played out.

The inquest also heard that failings by local police could have prolonged the attack, according to a report by a Tunisian judge.

It suggests some security forces had deliberately delayed their arrival at the scene, said Samantha Leek QC, counsel to the inquest.

Ms Leek said: "He (the judge) said the units that should have intervened in the events deliberately and unjustifiably slowed down to delay their arrival at the hotel.

"They had the ability to put an end to the attack before the police arrived but wasted a considerable amount of time in getting to the hotel."

The gunman's route - approximately 1.8 miles (2.9km) from the point he was dropped off to the point he was killed - was also digitally reconstructed.

It used photos of the victims to show where they died as the gunman prowled around the beach and hotel.

Ms Leek told the court that an armed guard on the beach had opened fire on Rezgui, but fell to the ground "seemingly unconscious" after the gunman threw a grenade.

A local speedboat driver, named as Al, picked up the guard's gun and confronted the attacker, but was unable to operate the weapon.

The inquest heard that Rezgui had entered the Imperial Marhaba Hotel "from the beach, carrying an automatic weapon and a number of explosives".

The hearing is scheduled to last seven weeks and will also look at security in place at the hotel by holiday company TUI and the travel advice issued by the UK Government.

Many families are said to have reservations about whether the Foreign Office properly warned people of the risks of travelling to Tunisia.

The attack came three months after 24 people died in an attack on the Bardo museum in the country's capital, Tunis.