SOUSSE, Tunisia, June 26 (UPI) -- The death toll in an attack on a seaside resort in Sousse, Tunisia, has risen to 37, officials said.
Officials said tourists were among those killed at the Imperial Marhaba hotel. At least one of the gunmen was also killed and a second was being pursued, the BBC reported.
The British Foreign Minister said five Britons and one Irish woman were among those killed, The Guardian reported.
Sources told Al Jazeera the gunmen exchanged fire with security forces before one man fled.
British tourist Gary Pine told Sky News he thought at first that "fire crackers" were going off at the hotel.
"There was a mass exodus off the beach," he said. "My son was in the sea at the time and myself and my wife were shouting at him to get out and as he ran up he said 'I've just saw someone get shot.'"
A top security official in Tunisia said a gunman from Kairouan, Tunisia, hid a Kalashnikov under an umbrella and opened fire on tourists on the beach. He then moved to the hotel, shooting guests as he did.
Hotel officials said 13 people were injured, including nine guests and four hotel employees.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, though sources said the gunmen may have intentionally targeted tourists at the hotel and possibly two other hotels.
