Five days after a gunman shattered the calm of a Tunisian beach in a bloody terror attack, killing 38 people, the bodies of his victims will start their journeys home.
The bodies of eight British victims of the attack will leave the morgue in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, at around noon local time on Wednesday, Tunisian Health Minister Said el-Aidi said.
Britain suffered the heaviest loss in the attack, with as many as 30 of the victims feared to be Britons, according to a Downing Street spokeswoman.
Three Irish victims are also expected to be repatriated on Wednesday, el-Aidi told CNN.
Asked why it had taken so long to identify victims, el-Aidi said he did not believe it had taken a long time and that the authorities had to be precise and follow international procedures and standards.
Tunisia’s Foreign Ministry said that the 34 bodies that have been identified include 26 Britons, one Belgian, two Germans, one Russian, three Irish and one Portuguese citizen.
El-Aidi told CNN the remaining four victims are likely to be confirmed as British, but that the identification process is ongoing.
On Tuesday, four of the most seriously wounded Britons arrived back in the United Kingdom, flown home on a military plane to receive treatment.
The gun rampage that killed 38 people is the most significant attack against British citizens since the London transport bombings 10 years ago.
Tunisian authorities have stepped up security as they investigate whether the gunman they say was responsible for the attack, Saif Al-Deen Al Rezgui, had accomplices in Friday’s deadly attack at the Sousse resort beachfront.
ISIS claims responsibility
The possibility of a link to another Tunisian terrorist attack emerged Tuesday.
Al Rezgui, 24, trained with the people who carried out the attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March, Rafik Chelly, Tunisia’s secretary of state for security, told CNN.
In an online audio statement, ISIS — which has said it’s behind the beach resort attack — claimed responsibility for the Bardo Museum attack and identified two men, Abu Zakariya al-Tunisi and Abu Anas al-Tunisi, as having carried it out. CNN could not independently verify the legitimacy of the audio claim.
Tunisian authorities say they believe only one man, Al Rezgui, was responsible for the attack. Police shot him dead near the scene.
‘Dangerous’ suspects sought
A man named Fathi was working on a nearby house during the attack, and watched the gunman die.
“He was waiting for the bullet to die, like he’d finished his mission,” he told CNN.
Tunisia’s Interior Ministry released details and images via Facebook of two more suspects — described as “dangerous terrorists” — it’s seeking in connection with the attack.
The pair are identified as Rafeeq al-Tayary, 28, and Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Mohsen al-Shirady, a 23-year-old student.
Tunisian Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli announced an initial round of arrests on Monday, of what he said was “a first group, the important part of the network that was behind this terrorist criminal.”