Travel agent lost son, brother and father in Tunisia massacre
The vast majority of those massacred in a Tunisian beach resort last Friday are British, according to the country’s Prime Minister Habib Essid.
The Foreign Office has only confirmed that 15 of the 39 dead are from the UK, but admitted that number is likely to rise to ‘at least 30’ once all the victims have been identified.
At least 36 others were injured, some of them seriously, although the process of identifiying the dead and the wounded has proved difficult as the majority were gunned down in swimwear, with no ID on them.
Thomson and First Choice have confirmed that their customers were among those killed by a gunman who ran amok on the beach at Port El Kantaoui before running into a RIU Imperial Marhaba and the RIU Bellevue hotels, where he found more of his victims.
Suzy Evans, a travel agent who previously worked at West Midlands Co-op and Holiday Hypermarket, is understood to have lost her son, her brother and her father in the attack.
Her 19-year-old son Joel Richards, brother Adrian Evans, 49, and father Patrick Evans were amongst the holidaymakers gunned down by the lone gunman as they enjoyed a lads’ break in the beach resort.
Suzy’s younger son, 16-year-old Owen, survived the attack after suffering a shoulder wound and was found by paramedics, helping a woman who had suffered a wound to her back, said newspaper reports.
Suzy, from Wednesbury in West Midlands, is understood to have flown out to Tunisia on Saturday to bring Owen home.
Colleagues and friends in the industry have been leaving messages of support and condolences on her Facebook page.
Islamic State extremists have said they carried out the attack.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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