People across country pause for a minute to think of 38 people killed by gunman who opened fire at tourist resort

Tunisia beach attack: the victims Read more

Britain has observed a minute’s silence as part of an official day of mourning for the tourists killed in a massacre on a Tunisian beach last week.

Flags flew on official buildings at half-mast, and people across the country stopped what they were doing at midday on Friday to think about those killed by a gunman in the deadliest terror attack on Britons in nearly a decade.

Dozens of British tourists lined up on the beach in Sousse to watch the Tunisian prime minister, Habib Essid, join the British ambassador, Hamish Cowell, to lay wreaths at the spot where the massacre began. Fresh flowers had been brought to replace those left throughout the week, which had dried and wilted in the sun.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest British and Irish tourists pray together in front of the memorial unveiled to the Sousse victims. Photograph: Chris Stephen/The Guardian

Seven days ago Seifeddine Rezgui walked on to the beach at the El Kantaoui resort and opened fire. He killed 38 people, including 30 British nationals, before police shot him dead.

The bodies of 17 British victims have been repatriated since Wednesday, all being flown into RAF Brize Norton. More were expected to be returned on Friday and Saturday. Wounded Britons – including four with severe injuries – have already been brought back to the UK.

David Cameron, the prime minister, had asked all government departments and official buildings in the UK, as well as embassies and military bases across the world, to fly their flags at half-mast for the day.



No. 10 Press Office (@Number10press) PM: At midday I'll be joining millions stopping for a minute to remember the people murdered in Tunisia last week. pic.twitter.com/LOgHOWwkqb

Local authorities, police forces and schools were asked to observe the silence. In train stations, posters were put up and announcements made to remind passengers and staff.

The Queen paid her silent tribute at Strathclyde University, Glasgow, where she was opening an innovation centre. The royal party was touring the Institute for Future Cities when she stopped and stood in silent contemplation.



Hundreds gathered outside Buckingham Palace in London where the band stopped playing in the middle of the changing of the guard. Union flags flew at half-mast there and at royal residences across the UK.

Crowds and competitors fell silent at Wimbledon, Henley regatta, the British Grand Prix and the horse races in Doncaster, Newton Abbot, Sandown, Beverley and Haydock.

The government also contacted faith leaders to encourage their congregations to join the country in remembrance.

Sousse

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A plaque dedicated to the Tunisia shooting victims at the beach where the attack took place. Photograph: Anis Mili/Reuters

On the beach in front of the Imperial Marhaba hotel, where most of the tourists died, security was tight ahead of the ceremony. The sand was criss-crossed by police on horses and quad bikes. A coastguard boat was stationed offshore.

Cowell was joined by a representative of the Tunisian government to lay wreaths around a spot where improvised memorials have continued to grow. Half a dozen had already been scooped out of the sand and arranged around a large heart-shaped depression, surrounded by flowers, candles and notes from wellwishers.

At midday, the dignitaries there fell silent to join the period of remembrance taking place across the UK, which shares the same time zone as Tunisia.

Cowell said afterwards: “We’ve had a team of [UK] security experts out here this week to assess, to ensure that the British people can come to Tunisia safely, we want to work with the Tunisians.

“I would like to pay tribute to the Tunisians in the hotels, in the hospitals. They have saved lived by responding to the event. I met hotel workers; their stories are very moving.” Chris Stephen



Walsall

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Minute’s silence marked at Walsall Football Club.

Players, club officials and hundreds of fans gathered outside Walsall Football Club’s stadium to hold a minute’s silence to remember three of its supporters who died.

Joel Richards, 19, his uncle Adrian Evans, 44, and grandfather Patrick Evans, 78, were all keen fans of the West Midlands club. Richards, a budding football referee and a student at the University of Worcester, and his uncle, a council employee, were both season ticket holders.

Relatives of the men who died, including Richards’ 16-year-old brother, Owen, who survived the attack, and their mother, Suzanne, joined the crowd outside the Banks’s Stadium.

A member of the Birmingham County Football Association referees department, where Richards was a referee, blew his whistle to mark the start and end of the minute’s silence. Walsall’s club chaplain and former player Peter Hart said a short prayer to mark the end of the proceedings.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Spontaneous applause after minute’s silence at Walsall FC

“Help us to know when to speak and when to be silent and through your spirit give us light and enable us to walk with courage into what can seem a dark and dangerous and uncertain future,” he said.

The crowd then burst into a spontaneous and sustained round of applause. Tributes in the shape of shirts, scarves and flowers have been laid outside the stadium’s main reception.



It was not only Walsall fans who attended. Supporters wearing Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa shirts showed their solidarity with the club and the men’s families. Steven Morris



Wimbledon

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The minute’s silence observed at Wimbledon. Photograph: Esther Addley/The Guardian

Wimbledon delayed the start of play by 45 minutes to accommodate the minute’s silence, the first time it has done so since the first anniversary of the 7 July bombings, in 2006.



Matches on the outer courts were pushed back to 12.15pm to avoid having to interrupt play, a move welcomed by tennis fans.



“It’s the right decision by Wimbledon,” said Fiona Fenton, from Sandhurst in Berkshire, who had queued with her daughter Kim since 6am to find a spot on the grass in front of the tournament’s outdoor screen. “It’s a British tragedy and I think this brings people closer in thoughts and compassion for the people who died.”



Across the All England Club, spectators, security staff and club officials stopped where they were walking and stood with heads bowed. On Murray Mound, hundreds of tennis fans interrupted picnics and broke off conversations to rise to their feet, many removing their hats. There was absolute silence from the crowds, the only sound being the ripple of the small stream which runs down the slope and an aeroplane passing overhead.



The silence concluded, there was a brief ripple of applause before Wimbledon returned to its usual bustle. Esther Addley

Manchester

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Minute’s silence in Manchester to remember victims of the attack.

The commemoration began when the clock on the neo-gothic Town Hall struck 12, and a maroon was fired from the roof.



Albert Square, currently occupied by the tents and stages of the Manchester international festival, fell silent and most passersby stood still, the only chatter coming from the taxi rank.



Inside the BBC tent, Stuart Maconie and Mark Radcliffe observed the silence, taking a break from preparation for their 6Music radio show, which was due to broadcast live from the festival on Friday afternoon. Helen Pidd



King’s Cross station, central London

Facebook Twitter Pinterest People observe the minute’s silence at King’s Cross station in London.

Just before midday a public announcement was made inviting people to join the nation in the minute’s silence. When 12pm came, the hubbub in the cavernous King’s Cross station subsided. Some who had been sitting drinking their coffee or reading the paper stood up.



“I’ve always been a supporter of things like remembrance services,” said Vicky Ludbrook, who used to be in the Women’s Royal Naval Service.



Ludbrook, who was waiting for her train to Morpeth, Northumberland, after attending Wimbledon for the first time, added after the minute had passed: “I was thinking of the families. It could happen to anyone really, no matter where you are.” Mark Tran

Westminster

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A police officer stands in Parliament Square, London, as Britain remembers the victims of the Tunisia attack. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Fridays in the Palace of Westminster are usually quiet. With parliament not sitting, many MPs go back to their constituencies for the weekend.

Flags on the parliamentary estate were flying at half-mast and armed police officers manning the main gates said they would be observing the minute’s silence, with one adding: “But if a tourist asks me a question, I can’t very well not answer.”

Staff working at parliament’s airport-style security point paused from letting visitors through when Big Ben struck midday. The building’s many canteens, all serving fish and chips to mark the end of the working week, came to a halt.



Parliament’s central lobby, which sits between the House of Commons and the House of Lords – always packed with tourists on Fridays – fell silent, with groups of excitable schoolchildren ordered to be quiet by their teachers.

Visitors had been warned in advance, but small groups of tourists in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the parliamentary estate, continued to natter before slowly becoming aware of the silence. Frances Perraudin

