Scots holidaymakers tell of their horror during Tunisia terror attacks

Both Jet2 and Thomas cook flights landed back at Glasgow airport yesterday carrying hundred of families, couples and solo travellers who were relieved to be back on home turf.

As they streamed through the arrivals terminal at Glasgow airport, many were greeted by friends and family, a sense of relief on their faces.

Some broke down in tears, others just wanted to get back to normality and forget their holiday from hell.

One man told of how gunman Seifeddine Rezgui had run past him as he was swimming in a pool around 25m away from the Tunisian beach where 39 people were killed on Friday.

Cal Sarwar, 50, from Falkirk had been holidaying alone and decided to take a dip just before the Sousse tragedy.

He was staying in a neighbouring hotel when the 24-year-old terrorist targeted western tourists on the beach near the RIU Imperial Marhaba and the RIU Bellevu.

He said: “I had earplugs on, swimming away and I pulled my head up out off the water and saw chaos.

“At first I thought I heard fireworks…The guy had a Kalashnikov, he came from the water and had re-loaded several times and by the time I got out of the pool he had gone into a hotel.

“He went past me but I didn’t see him, only the devastation afterwards.”

The 50-year-old writer said the blood-soaked beach beside Tunisia’s Imperial Marhaba hotel had turned to "terracotta" after the tragedy.

He added: “I went to the beach; it was terracotta with the blood, the sand and the heat…People dragging people out of the water, bodies lying there.”

Cal said he was glad to be home and was met by his partner Ala and her daughter Anastasia at the airport.

Another couple, Sandra Clason and her partner James Erskine, from Bo’Ness, were staying in a hotel just metres from the shootings.

Sandra, 53, said at first she thought fireworks were going off before the couple realised what was happening.

She said: “At first we thought it was fireworks, then we thought ‘is it a bomb’?

“You could hear it getting closer and then….nothing.

“We were one of the lucky ones, we were just coming down from the hotel at the time.

“We were too close for comfort though. I’m just so glad to be home, it’s fantastic.”

Following the shootings, tourists were told to stay in the hotel complex and not to venture outside.

Most people spent the last two days of their holiday indoors, resorts usually swarming with tourists had turned "eerily quiet." according to some visitors.

Michelle and Daniel Harrigan said they were petrified when they found out the news, and were told by a friend from the UK while they were having lunch on a beach around an hour away from the attacks.

Michelle, 27, from Ardrossan said: "We tried to come home early but by the time they arranged it, it would have been today anyway.

“I was scared, I just wanted home.

"The pool just emptied afterwards, nobody was on the beach at all.

"I’m so glad to be home. We won’t be back in a hurry."

Malcolm Lamont, from Perth, was with his partner Jane and has been going to Tunisia for the past 40 years but said he wouldn’t go back in a hurry now.

He said: “After what happened it was like a ghost town, it was just so shocking.

“I wasn’t that worried as the hotel we were in was quite well secured, guards on the gates and things.

“We were told to just stay within the hotel grounds.

“It feels great to be home - great and sad.”

Kelly Hanley, 39, from Kings Park, was with her partner and four children staying around 15 minutes from the Imperial Marhaba.

She said she was “just glad to be home” and added: “Everybody was panicking, we didn’t know if they were going to strike at the hotel if they would come up near us.

“We were told there were cars being bombed too, there were different stories going about. It was a horrible experience.”

Gordon Speirs, from Springburn in Glasgow said many of the British and German tourists at his resort wanted to leave instantly after the attacks.

He said the atmosphere around the hotels changed in the following hours and days, with a sombre mood coming over the usually sunny holiday spot.

The 67-year-old added: “I felt terrible about what happened.

“We were told within 48 hours every Brit would be taken out of the area so it was okay. My wife is relieved to be home.

“I was a little bit scared, everybody was alarmed. There were soon plenty of police and army around the place, security was stepped up a real good bit. “

Richard and Gayle Merry, from Ayr, were on holiday with their three children and said Tunisia will find it hard to recover following the attacks due to the lack of security.

Richard said: “It was horrible, especially when you’re so exposed on the beach and security wasn’t visible. I don’t know if the guy came in from the sea, that’s what I’ve heard, but they need to make people feel safe again.”

His wife Gayle said: “We are just relieved to be home.

“People were fantastic but the security wasn’t there considering that had happened. We expected there to be some change.

“I got a news alert on my phone about what happened, passed it to my husband and immediately he said ‘right get back up to the hotel’ and that was it.

“We stayed in the hotel for two days, except to go out to quickly eat. That was it.”

Another traveller, Louise Markie from Edinburgh, struggled to fight back tears as she told of the terror she faced when she discovered what had happened.

Although she did not stay at the resort where the attacks took place, she said the thought that it could have happened anywhere had plagued her as soon as she heard the news.

She said: “The thought that our hotel was on the beach and they came in a boat, and everybody as out sunbathing…all the kids. It could have happened to anybody. It’s just not worth thinking about.

“We could have come home last night but we just thought, wanted to give someone with children the chance.

“People were contacting us straight away. The hotel was really sombre.”

hannah.rodger@eveningtimes.co.uk