The husband of a woman shot dead by a terrorist while on holiday in Tunisia found her dead beneath her beach towel, an inquest has heard.
Declan Carty, from Balbradagh, Robinstown, Co Meath, went looking for his wife after a gunman killed 38 people at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel at Port El Kantaoui in Sousse on June 26th, 2015.
Three Irish people were killed in the attack, Mr Carty’s wife Lorna (54) and Laurence (56) and Martina Hayes (55) from Athlone, Co Westmeath.
“I went to the beach, I lifted a towel. It was Lorna... She was lying with her head to one side as if she was lying in the sun,” Mr Carty told Dublin Coroner’s Court.
Mr Carty and his wife had moved to the hotel where the attack happened from another due to construction work. “There was banging and clattering. Lorna explained that I’d had a heart attack and I was on holiday to rest,” he said.
The couple were “delighted” with the new hotel and the holiday had been paid for by Mr Carty’s brother.
“We were enjoying our holiday. We met another Irish couple, the Hayes’,” he said.
On the morning of the attack, Mr Carty was in the hotel room and his wife was at the beach. The couple’s bags were packed as they were due to leave that day.
“I woke up to what I first thought was fireworks. It sounded like a machine gun. I looked out but everything looked normal, there was a jet-ski and a paraglider moving in the water,” he said.
Screaming
Mr Carty then saw people running and screaming along the beach and tried to phone his wife, but got no answer. He recalled running to the lift and meeting a staff-member in a panic.
“She turned white. She was pointing at the key in my hand, she’d no English. There were other guests there and we ran to my room and stayed there for the duration. There was glass crashing, I could hear a bullet ricocheting. There was shooting and it went on for a while,” he said. “I thought we were going to die on the day. I just didn’t know what was going to happen.”
After the attack, Mr Carty went looking for his wife. “She was a nurse, so I knew if Lorna was able to move at all she’d be looking for me. I knew there was something wrong. I headed for the beach,” he said.
Before he found her, he lifted a beach towel placed over a body and recognised the face of Ms Hayes.
Sinead Hayes (33), the only child of Mr and Ms Hayes, from Westlodge, Athlone, Co Westmeath, told the inquest her parents went on holiday to mark their wedding anniversary. “They were due to fly back into Dublin at midnight on June 26th, a Friday. Unfortunately they never got to fly back.”
Gunman Seifeddine Rezgui had disguised his Kalashnikov rifle under a parasol as he walked 700m from a parked van onto the beach, where he opened fire.
The three Irish deceased were among the first people he killed.
The inquest heard the Islamic State gunman specifically targeted tourists during the 30 minute attack before he was neutralised by Tunisian authorities.
‘Whizz of bullets’
Witness Raymond Hegarty said he and his family ran from the pool area as the gunman approached behind them.
“I remember hearing the whizz of bullets and the thud of them hitting something,” he said. The family barricaded themselves into their hotel room and stayed quiet.
The jury returned verdicts of unlawful killing for all three deaths and recommended that a link to a Department of Foreign Affairs smartphone App alerting tourists to risks associated with travel abroad be permanently displayed on all travel websites and be an integral part of all travel bookings.
In a statement after the inquest, the Carty and Hayes families said no words could express their pain.
“We are all still devastated by the tremendous loss we have endured. We hope that no family ever has to ensure the pain and tragic loss we have suffered. We thank all of those who have been here for us over the last 32 months and who have provided support and comfort to us, they have brought us some solace during this difficult time.”