Tunisia killer ‘showed no emotion’

A GAS engineer who was shot three times during the Tunisian beach massacre has told of the moment he shielded his fiancée and told her: “I’m going to die.”

Matthew James, 30, described seeing gunman Seifeddine Rezgui firing at holidaymakers as they sunbathed in the resort of Sousse, saying he showed “no emotion in his face” as he took the lives of 38 people.

Mr James is still recovering in hospital in Cardiff more than a week after the attack, as the bodies of the 30 Britons killed were repatriated and inquests into their deaths opened.

More inquests are expected to be formally opened into the deaths of British tourists killed in the Tunisia terrorist attack.

Mr James said on hearing the gunshots he immediately flung himself and partner Saera Wilson, 26, to the ground.

He said: “When I heard the first shot I reacted without thinking. I remember grabbing Saera, turning her around and falling on top of her. That’s when I was shot. It didn’t hurt at first. It was a strange feeling and I said to Saera, ‘Jesus, I have been shot’.

“I was angry and panicking. I was lying facing Saera under the sunbed. I said, ‘Babe, babe, I’m going to die’. That’s when I told her to tell the kids I loved them and that she had to get away for them. I didn’t want her to go but I knew they needed to have one parent at least.”

Mr James recalled then seeing Rezgui from his prone position on the sand, witnessing the gunman turn over sunbeds and “making sure they were dead”.

“There was no emotion in his face. He looked like a postman going about his business but instead of delivering letters he was strolling around shooting people,” he added.

Despite his wounds, Mr James managed to reach the Imperial Hotel as Miss Wilson searched for him among the dead being brought into the Belle Vue hotel. They were later reunited.