Minute's silence for Tunisia's victims

Friday 03 July 2015

Islanders are being invited to join a minute's silence being held across Britain at lunchtime today to remember the victims of the terrorist attack in Tunisia.

It's a week since 23-year-old student Seifeddine Rezgui shot brutally dead 38 people at the beach resort of Sousse.

Some 24 Britons are now confirmed to be among the dead and the British death toll is expected to rise to 30.

Flags are expected to be flown at half-mast over government departments and Buckingham Palace today and Home Secretary Theresa May has been to the scene of the massacre to lay flowers and observe a period of silence.

The Bailiff said: "I would encourage all Islanders to observe a minute's silence as we remember those who perished in this dreadful attack on innocent lives, especially those who were British, and to reflect on the impact this has had on their immediate families and friends who have lost loved ones in the most traumatic of circumstances. As a peace-loving Island nation, we express our shock and outrage at this crime and extend our deepest sympathy to those most closely affected by it."

A Jerseyman who was holidaying in Tunisia last week said he heard the gunshots from his hotel next door and said it hasn't really sunk in yet how lucky he is to be alive. Thomson holiday reps gave him and his fellow guests the option of leaving the country straight away and within 30 minutes he had his bags packed and was heading home via Manchester.

The operation to bring the bodies back to Britain began on Wednesday and those wounded, including four severely injured holidaymakers, have been flown to hospitals in Birmingham, Oxford, Plymouth and London.

A single inquest covering all the British dead is to be opened by the West London coroner.