Brit who survived Tunisia beach attack played dead in order to make it out alive

Nearly nine years ago, 38 people were gunned down and killed with 39 others suffering injuries on Tunisia Beach.

On 26 June 2015, a terrorist attack struck the tourist resort of Port El Kantaoui in Sousse.

22-year-old Tunisian electrical engineering student, Seifeddine Rezgui, opened fire on the beach as so-called Islamic State group (IS) took claim of the attack. The gunman had hidden a gun under a beach umbrella and threw grenades onto the tourist-packed beach outside two hotels.

There were 30 UK citizens among those killed and one Brit says she played dead in order to survive the horrific attack.

30 Brits were among those who died. (FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Following that terrifying day in Tunisia, Angela Evans told the BBC how she and her friend tried to trick Rezgui into thinking they were already dead so he wouldn’t target them.

The woman from Norfolk described: “We both looked up, stood up, there was this man there in black, several rows of sun loungers away just stood there with his huge gun moving round all the people shooting them, just killing, murdering them.”

She continued her harrowing account: “You can't run, you're an open target running, he was shooting anyone on their feet as well as people on sun loungers, he was just killing them.

"So we both at the same time, [said] play dead, we just fell to the ground, faces in the sand. The shooting continued. He just kept on shooting, it was coming nearer and nearer. Then his feet were at the side of me. You don't move, because you're next. You just pray to God.”

She played dead to survive. (BBC)

And it wasn’t over yet, as she added: “Then there was this noise, this heavy clicking noise, into the sand fell part of the gun, a magazine... You still have to pretend you're dead. And then click again. He put more bullets in.

"And then there was a noise. I don't know what noise, just a noise. I could feel him move and the shooting started again."

Angela said once she heard him leave the beach and move towards a hotel, they ran away. Staff in a different hotel hid the friends in an office until it was finally over and police had shot Rezgui dead.

Tour operator, TUI, reached a settlement with families of holidaymakers caught up in the terror attack in 2022. The claimants alleged that the company was responsible for safety and security breaches at the resort.

TUI denied this but, ahead of a trial, the law firm representing more than 80 claimants released a joint statement stating they had reached a settlement 'without admission of liability or fault', bringing the legal action to an end.