Tunisian shootings: Family of Goole OAP who was killed tell of their devastation Updated 5.10pm

Bruce Wilkinson, 72, of Goole, who is reported to be a retired worker from Drax power station near Selby, is one of 38 people who died when a gunman struck on a beach in Sousse on Friday.

His family said in a statement issued via their MP, Andrew Percy: "We are devastated at the loss of Bruce, who was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

"Bruce was a loving family man, and in his working life worked to support the care of others.

"He was a kind and compassionate man, with a dry sense of humour.

"He was fun-loving, and will be deeply missed by friends and family alike.

"The family would like to thank everyone who has supported them since the tragic of events of last Friday, and we respectfully ask to be left in peace to grieve."

Their statement comes as British officials struggle to identify all the victims of the Tunisian terror atrocity because few were carrying passports or other means of identification, according to Home Secretary Theresa May.

She told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "What's important is that the information is absolutely 100% correct when it is given to a family.

"If you can imagine, these are circumstances, because of the circumstances of the attack, people won't have had documents with them, they won't necessarily have had phones.

"Some people are being moved between hospitals, so the team on the ground are making every effort to ensure that they get accurate information."

Meanwhile, a Press employee has travelled home on a 'sombre' flight from Tunisia. Jennifer Brown, this newspaper's Events & Promotions Manager, flew to Manchester from her holiday in a resort about 20 minutes from the scene of the atrocity.

She said some passengers had been staying in the resort at Sousse where Kalashnikov-wielding student Seifeddine Rezgui targeted Western tourists, and people did not want to be disrespectful. "There was a sombre mood, "she said. "There was no laughing and joking."

She revealed that when the plane landed, passengers were met by a large number of British police officers, in both uniform and plain clothes, who wanted to speak to anyone who had been in the resort and might have any information or video which could be of help to the authorities.

She said she and her friends had been aware that the attacker might well have chosen their beach for his attack.

She also praised the kindness and helpfulness of ordinary Tunisians, for example at her hotel, whom she feared would now suffer badly because of a loss of tourism income and employment.

Foreign Minister Tobias Ellwood said yesterday that the Sousse atrocity was "the most significant terrorist attack on the British people" since July 7, 2005, when 52 people were killed in London.

One of those killed is reported to be 24-year-old fashion blogger Carly Lovett from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. Another British victim was named as Adrian Evans, who worked for Sandwell Council in the West Midlands as a manager in the gas services department."

A former soldier from North Yorkshire has told how he ran from the Tunisian gunmen with bullets flying over his head during the attack.

Steve Walls, 60, helped wounded tourists as other terrified holidaymakers ran for their lives, only fleeing when a gunman started shooting at him from just 50 yards away.

Mr Walls then faced an agonising two-hour wait for news of his wife Jacqui, who had been sheltering in a nearby hotel.

Steve and Jacqui Walls

The couple were half way through a two week holiday, staying at the Riu Belleview Park hotel, when the attackers struck in the Tunisian resort of Sousse, at around noon on Friday.

Mr Walls heard shots and ran towards the beach in search of his wife, as crowds ran away.

"I didn't think of my own safety, I knew there would be people injured," he told The Press.

"I was trying to find Jacqui and trying to comfort people who were injured. I put a tourniquet on a woman's shoulder, and helped a man with a gunshot wound to his stomach."

A TV still from Tunisia TV1 via AP

Checking bodies on the beach to find survivors, Mr Walls said he could have verified three dead.

"I think the terrorists came ashore on a jet ski and just sprayed bullets indiscriminately, I saw the jet ski on the beach."

Mr Walls finally left the beach when he saw one of the gunmen approaching him.

"I looked up and saw a man casually strolling along the beach with an AK47 over his shoulder. I started to run away and heard three shots over my head.

I crashed into hotel and the first door I saw was a service door to a small storeroom with cleaning chemicals. I smashed the door with my shoulder and hid in there, thinking if he came in either he would shoot me or I would blind him, but fortunately he didn't come after me.

"After about an hour I came out cautiously, and went into the hotel reception. It took me about two hours to find Jacqui, she'd been ushered into another hotel further down the beach."

British tourists have been confirmed as among at least 37 people killed in a gun attack.

The attack happened when gunmen exchanged fire with security services on the busy beach in a town popular with holidaymakers from the UK and Ireland. The country's Health Ministry confirmed that those killed included Britons, Tunisians, Germans and Belgians. Another 36 were wounded.

One of the shooters is said to have hidden his gun beneath a parasol.

Tourist Ellie Makin, from Ripon, told TV interviewers a gunman had been next to her as she sunbathed.

She said: "He was to the right of me because we were on the last sun bed on the beach. All of a sudden I got up anyway and just happened to look right and all I saw was a gun and an umbrella being dropped.

"Then he started firing to the right hand side of us. If he had fired to the left I don't know what would have happened, but we were very lucky."

Matthew Kenyon, 21, from Clifton in York, was on holiday with his girlfriend Diane Darlington (pictured together yesterday, below) and witnessed some of the terror.

He has told The Press this evening: "Me and my girlfriend were at the pool side of El Mouradi Palm Marina. I was just about to go rent a jet ski out on the beach where it happened.

"Suddenly gunshots were heard and no one moved but all the birds flew away then more was heard and everyone started running away, so we all ran to our rooms as everyone was shouting and running. As soon as we got to our room we put stuff against the door then I went onto the balcony and filmed the explosions and gunfire from both hotels."

He captured this footage on his phone:

Beverley woman Sally Groome, who works for York-based radio station Minster FM, spoke of being sent to barricade herself into a hotel room after a crowd of terrified holidaymakers fled the beach.

She told Minster FM she had watched police vehicles rush to the beach as she sheltered in her hotel room near the centre of the attack.

"I can't stop shaking, I have never experienced anything like this in my entire life," she said.

"There have seen so many police vehicles and sirens, all heading towards what we think is the beach.
"It's absolute Bedlam."

Rillington couple Karen and Mark Sellers were in the resort with six other friends and family.

Their son Liam, 21, said: "My brother rang me to ask if I'd seen the news and we tried to contact my mother and father. Then I got a phone call from my mother saying they are all alright, and locked in their rooms.

"My uncle and aunties were on the beach where the shooting was and all ran back to the hotel."

The group was due to fly home tomorrow, but Liam said the family is now waiting to find out if they can still come home as planned.

"It's shocking and worrying with your family at risk," he added.

Diane Brown, 49, from Bridlington, and Barry and Suzanne West, of Norton, are also all today reported to have been among those caught up in the terror. All are reportedly safe and well.

The Foreign Office said people in the UK concerned about relatives in Tunisia should call them on 0207 208 1500.

A spokesman said any British nationals in Tunisia should make contact with the embassy there.

*Were you - or was a relative of yours - in the resort at the time of the attack? Email newsdesk@thepress.co.uk, or call 07702 899243.