Tunisia’s new beach guards fail to report for work

HUNDREDS of extra police sent by Tunisian law enforcement agencies to protect tourist beaches failed to show up, leading to embarrassing exchanges when the interior minister made a tour of inspection.

In response to the attack, a crisis committee ordered an extra 1,377 armed police to guard tourist attractions including museums and beaches starting on Wednesday. However, there was still a distinct lack of security when Najem Gharsalli, the minister, visited.

“We had agreed to protect the beaches. Where are the agents tasked with security on the beaches?” Mr Gharsalli, was recorded saying to a security official during an inspection of Hammamet, Tunisia’s best-known resort. “Where are they? Are they having a coffee?”

It took more than 45 minutes to stop Seifeddine Rezgui, the attacker who killed 38 people at El-Kantaoui resort last Friday, despite prior warnings by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) of attacks on foreign tourists.

The security that was there appears to have panicked. According to one local newspaper, As-Sabah, two guards in a boat off-shore decided “not to intervene” with one falling into the water, while other guards refused to take on the attacker for fear of being shot.

By yesterday afternoon, hotels were reporting a better police presence. “They have added one policeman to guard the entrances of the hotels, and have groups of policemen patrolling the beaches,” said a member of staff at one hotel in Hammamet.

The full extent of the British losses was confirmed when the authorities identified the 30th and last British victim yesterday. The victims also included three Irish tourists, two Germans, a Belgian, a Portuguese and a Russian.

A further nine British victims were flown home to RAF Brize Norton yesterday. An RAF C17 transport plane carried the bodies of William and Lisa Graham, Philip Heathcote, Trudy Jones, James and Ann McQuire, Janet and John Stocker, and David Thompson.

All 30 Britons killed were on package tours booked by Thomson Holidays and its First Choice brand. “The whole company would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of those involved in this tragic event,” a spokesman for the firm said.

The Tunisian authorities also confirmed yesterday that they had eight people — seven men and a woman — in custody on suspicion of being directly involved in the attack.