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Graphic Video Shows Bodies Strewn Across the Beach During Rampage at Tunisian Resort

Footage from the attack that left 38 people dead shows panicked tourists hurrying away from the loud pop of gunshots, and several corpses splayed in the sand.
Photo via EPA

Graphic video footage from the shooting spree at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Tunisia emerged late Friday evening. As of Saturday morning, the death toll in the attack stood at 38, not including the gunman, who was also killed at the scene.

The footage, posted to YouTube by the Tunisian radio station Mosaique FM, appears to have been shot on a cellphone. It captures discordant images of a luxury resort under siege: tourists hurrying across manicured, palm tree-lined lawns away from the loud pop of gunshots, armed policemen shooing away shirtless men in board shorts, and the bodies of a woman in a bandeau bikini and a man in swim trunks splayed in the sand beneath a cabana.

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Tourists are now fleeing the Tunisian resort town of Sousse and canceling planned trips as details about Friday's terrorist attack continue to emerge.

Eight of those dead are from United Kingdom, though Prime Minister David Cameron warned British citizens to prepare for that number to climb higher as more information becomes available. Tunisia's Ministry of Health has reported that a Belgian, a German, and at least one citizen of Ireland are also among the dead.

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On Friday, Sousse, a popular vacation spot situated on the Mediterranean Sea, experienced a mass tourist exodus. Mohamed Walid Ben Ghachem, director of the Enfidha-Hammamet airport in Tunisia told the Associated Press that 15 additional flights were scheduled in order to accommodate the flood of travelers seeking a quick exit from the area. On Friday, 1,400 passengers had already departed. German tour operator TUI, which was working to evacuate 200 tourists, said an additional 300 customers had inquired about cancelling trips in the wake of the attack.

Authorities in Tunisia have said they were not aware of the gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, prior to Friday's attack. Rezgui, a student at Kairouan University, was reportedly from a small Tunisian town called Gaafour, about 75 miles southwest of Tunis. Though he appears to have acted alone, the SITE Intelligence Group, a group that tracks jihadi organizations, says the so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack in Sousse is one of three attacks staged around the globe on Friday for which IS has taken credit. The other two — at a factory in France and a Shia mosque in Kuwait — left a combined 28 dead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Follow Tessa Stuart on Twitter: @tessastuart