Tunisia hotel attack as it happened: At least 5 British tourists among the dead as toll hits 37

ITV News puts total number of Brits killed in today's hotel attack at 13, citing Tunisian medical sources.

The owners of the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, where at least one gunman opened fire on tourists in the hotel swimming pool, have said in a statement: "While the Tunisian authorities keep working in the area and guests are being taken care of, the information about the attack at the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel is still limited.

"When the attack occurred, the occupancy rate at the hotel was 77% with 565 guests at the moment of the attack.

"The majority of the guests are from the UK and other central European countries. However, it is not possible at the moment to confirm the nationalities or any other details of the victims.

"The Riu Imperial Marhaba hotel is a 5 star property with 366 rooms. The hotel has a beachfront located in the resort area of Port El Kanaoui, where RIU operates two hotels more. In total, RIU has 10 hotels in Tunisia with 3.586 rooms."

Majorca-based Riu Hotel Group owns the Imperial Marhaba.

Two suspects involved in the shooting have been arrested by Tunisian security services putting the number of those believed to have been involved in the attack up to three. One shooter was killed in an exchange of gunfire with security services.

COBRA meeting chaired by Phillip Hammond is due to begin now. It will discuss UK's response to three terror attacks today in France, Kuwait and Tunisia. David Cameron is unable to chair the meeting because he is in Brussels.

Photo seems to show the arrest of the second of two shooters responsible for the attack. First was killed in a shoot out with security forces.

Reuters reports that Tunisian health officials are now putting the death toll from the attack at 28.

Tunisian media has reported that one gunman, killed by security forces, was a Tunisian from the town of Kairaouan.

He reportedly came onto beach the from the sea, hiding a Kalashinkov rifle in a umbrella before he opened fire. The shooter may have had as many as two other accomplices.

Tunisia's ministry of tourism has announced that the 27 dead and 18 wounded in the attack are mostly from Germany, Belgium, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Belgian airline Tuiairfly, owned by travel company TUI, ordered a plane travelling to Tunisia to turn back because of the attacks, it has emerged.

In a tweet it said: "JAF5017 is turning back to Belgium due to current terrorist attack in Tunisia."

Two British tourists from Bristol give eyewitness reports of the terrorist attack in Sousse, Tunisia to IBTimes UK.

The attack took place outside the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in the Port El Kantaoui area of Sousse. An imposing 5-star establishment, it has 366 rooms and is popular among British and Irish tourists.

British Prime Minister David Cameron offered "our solidarity in fighting this evil of terrorism" following the attacks in France and Tunisia and said the government's emergency Cobra committee will meet this afternoon (26 June).

22-year-old British tourist who witnessed the attack says he believes he saw one gunman on a speed boat as another fired shots up the beach.

"A white speed boat came by really fast close to me with one guy driving and flew right past us and I thought 'that's odd' because he came by so quick and it looked like he had a gun in his hand.

"Then, as soon as I turned, I heard the gunshots."

More eyewitness descriptions of the hotel attacks:

"We were sat with other holidaymakers, enjoying the sun, and my 22-year-old son was in the sea. Then what seemed to be firecrackers began going off about 100 yards away.

"Then it became very obvious that they were not fire crackers and when I went back about ten meters down the beach, only then did I realise there were bullets flying through the air."

"There seemed to be bullets flying around here there and everywhere."

A spokesman for the Sahlool Hospital in Sousse told IBTimes UK that his facility is treating 18 of those injured in the attack. He added that 13 of them are tourists and the rest were local nationals.

Four of the injured have serious life-threatening injuries, he said, and are undergoing surgery. The rest were treated for bullet wounds to arms and legs.

Tourists have said they are confused and in shock following the bloody attack. Guests at the Mouradi Palm Marina in Sousse, adjacent to one of the hotels which was attacked, say they have been given little instruction but are remaining inside.

"You are mostly in shock because the last thing you expect when you come on holiday is to hear gunshots or see these kinds of things", one holidaymaker told IBTimes UK.

"It only seems like they sent the police in well after this event had happened.

"Luckily we are flying home tomorrow but if we weren't I would be getting an earlier flight."

Tunisian Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui has told the country's national television station that the shooting was a "terrorist attack" and security forces killed one of the attackers while another fled the scene.

A British holidaymaker told IBTimes UK how he had to run for his life in a hail of gunfire and witnessed the killing of another tourist.

"We had just played a game of volley ball and then I went off into the sea, 20-30 yards out from the shore," he said.

"I turned and heard gunshots and then saw a splattering of gunshots hit the ground. As soon as I turned around I saw one older gentleman hit in the side of his head and he dropped straight down.

"Then there were two large explosions."