The bodies of the four Scottish holidaymakers killed in the Tunisia terror attack have been released to their families.
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Tunisia’s president declared a state of emergency on Saturday, more than a week after a gunman at a popular resort attacked foreign tourists on the beach, killing 38 people.
Their coffins are due to be loaded on to hearses and taken in convoy to West London Coroner’s Court in Fulham, west London, where inquests into their deaths will be held.
The inquests have been suspended pending the outcome of investigations by British and Tunisian police, senior coroner Chinyere Inyama said.
“My son Joel, dad Pat and brother Adrian were our rocks and we are all heartbroken and devastated and will never get over losing them”. A total of 30 Britons died in the attack, which took place last Friday.
Fashion blogger Carly Lovett, 24, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, who was on holiday her fiancé Liam, died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
The RAF C-17 aircraft carrying the bodies arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at 3pm.
The bodies of engineer Stephen Mellor, 59, from Bodmin in Cornwall, killed as he shielded his wife Cheryl on the beach, and John Stollery, 58, a social worker from Nottinghamshire, were also flown back, as were ex- Birmingham City football player Denis Thwaites, 70, and his wife, 69-year-old Elaine.
Det Sgt David Batt of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command told the inquest the shootings lasted around half an hour.
“Tourists were indiscriminately targeted by the gunman”, he said in a statement read during the hearings.
“Accounts are being taken from those who are deemed significant”, he said.
The bodies of the victims were moved to the central mortuary in Tunis after they were killed, he added.
“Senior United Kingdom police identification managers have assisted in Tunisia and in the United Kingdom to oversee the identification process”, he said.
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The coroner will continue to open inquests into the deaths of those throughout the weekend.
