Terrorist attack in Tunisia kills at least 27

At least six were injured in the attack in the Mediterranean city of Sousse, Tunisia’s Interior Ministry told NBC News, adding that one attacker had been killed in an ongoing operation. The interior ministry told BBC News “a terrorist attack” was ongoing.

Gary Pine was one of the many vacationers on the popular beach when the attack began, which he initially mistook for firecrackers, he told NBC News.

“It was only when you could hear the bullets whizzing through the air that we realized it was gunfire,” said Pine, adding that his 22-year-old son witnessed one person get shot.

“There was confusion. No one knew what seemed to be breaking out. My wife was shouting to my son to get out of the sea, and as he ran up the beach he said ‘I just saw someone get shot,'” Pine told BBC World TV. “I made the stupid decision of kind of running back 20 yards to pick up my bag… It’s not the best decision I think I’ve ever made.”

Guests ran off the beach and were told to stay in their hotel rooms, although some ran back out to the beach to get their room keys, he said.

Elizabeth O’Brien, a tourist from Ireland, told Ireland’s RTE radio that she was on the beach with her two sons when she thought she heard fireworks, reports the Associated Press. She saw a hot air balloon collapse and then heard rapid firing.

British tourist Steve Johnson told BBC News that the “packed beach” turned into a “stampede” after the shots were fired.

The hotel’s entertainment manager, Hamouda, told NBC News that guests saw two gunmen who “came from the sea” and attacked the beach, and Johnson reports that the shots came from two directions.

Tunisians and Europeans enjoy vacationing at the popular resort destination of Sousse, located 150 kilometers from Tunis.

Since a March terrorist attack at a museum in Tunis killed 22 people, mainly foreign tourists, Tunisia has been on high alert.