Inquests are about to resume into the deaths of 30 Britons killed in a mass shooting in a Tunisian holiday resort in the biggest loss of British life to terrorism since the 2005 London bombings.

Families who lost relatives hope the inquiry, resuming on Monday, will uncover whether more could have been done to prevent the tragedy on the beach outside the Imperial Marhaba hotel in Sousse on 26 June 2015.

Hundreds of tourists were sunbathing in 30C heat when jihadi Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, killing 38 tourists, 30 of whom were British, in arampage that lasted nearly 40 minutes. Rezgui was shot dead by Tunisian authorities as he ran from the hotel.

The attack came three months after Islamist militants attacked the Bardo National Museum in the Tunisian capital city of Tunis. They killed 21 people – mostly European tourists – on the spot, and another victim died 10 days later.

Travel company Tui, which owns Thomson holidays, through which all 30 of the Britons booked their trip, is expected to come under significant scrutiny over its handling of travel advice for Tunisia from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Lawyers representing families of 20 of the deceased Britons are to accuse Tui of “practically hiding and keeping out of the limelight” FCO warnings about terrorism in Tunisia, according to papers submitted in advance of the resumption of inquests.

The travel firm, which in the year to September made an underlying profit of €1bn (£866m), is also said to have sold customers travel insurance that excluded cancellation cover caused by terrorism risks. Before the Sousse attack, Tui is said in submissions by the families to have discouraged cancellation by penalising customers up to the full cost of their booked holidays if they chose to cancel as a result of learning of terrorist activities or risks.

Tui is to argue that the measures it had in place at the time for forwarding travel advice were appropriate but the Sousse attack changed the climate and they responded accordingly.

The coroner, Nicholas Loraine-Smith, is to hear evidence on these issues, as well as details on the events of the day, the security in the hotel and Rezgui’s background.

Andrew Ritchie QC, who has been appointed by Irwin Mitchell to represent 20 families at the inquests, said: “These inquests will seek to answer important questions for the families, in particular: how their loved ones came to be exposed to terrorism at the five-star hotel; whether Tui communicated Foreign and Commonwealth Office terrorism warnings to their customers before or after bookings; the security arrangements – if any – in place at the Imperial Hotel; and whether the holiday insurance sold by Tui to customers covered terrorism.

“The families seek the truth and respect the coronial system and the hard work put into the preparation of the evidence by the UK police. They wish to see a better warning system in place to prevent future deaths and so that holidaymakers can make better-informed decisions when purchasing holidays abroad.”

Some evidence may be considered behind closed doors due to its sensitivity in preventing future terrorist attacks, following an application by the FCO.

Rezgui was a 23-year-old electrical engineering student at the University of Kairouan, from Gaafour in north-west Tunisia. It emerged he had received military training in Libya. Some of his associates went on to launch the Bardo Museum attack.

The ringleader behind the Sousse and Bardo attack – and Rezgui’s recruiter – was identified by a BBC Panorama investigation broadcast on Tuesday as Chamseddine al-Sandi. Panorama said Sandi was believed to be on the run in Libya. The Guardian has not been able to verify his role.

Two weeks after the Sousse attack, the FCO altered its travel advice to advise against all travel to four areas of Tunisia and advise against all but essential travel to the rest of the country. This advice remains in place.

Tourism in Tunisia, which had accounted for 8% in gross domestic product – a broad measure for the size of a country’s economy – has suffered considerably since the attacks. According to the Tunisian ministry of tourism, tourist receipts plunged 50% year-on-year in 2016, while the number of border arrivals was down 18%.



A Tui spokeswoman said: “Tui UK is taking a full and active role in the inquests into the deaths of the 30 British nationals killed during the terrorist attack in Sousse, Tunisia in June 2015.

“Like others, we want to understand the specific circumstances that led to this atrocity. We are cooperating with the coroner and will continue to do so, in order to help ensure that the tragic deaths of those killed can be thoroughly investigated, the relevant facts determined and any lessons learned. With the inquests about to be heard, we consider that it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”