Prime Minister David Cameron observes a minute’s silence with staff of a health centre in his constituency in Witney, central England, yesterday.
AFP/London
Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron led a nationwide minute’s silence yesterday, a week after a gun massacre in Tunisia in which 30 out of the 38 victims were Britons.
Flags flew at half-mast as schools, government offices and the Wimbledon tennis tournament fell silent at midday to honour the victims of Britain’s worst terror attack since the 2005 London bombings.
Employees of travel group TUI, which includes operators Thomson and First Choice that organised the holidays of all of the British victims, stood in silence outside the company’s headquarters.
There was also a ceremony outside Walsall football stadium in central England in tribute to three local men from the same family who died in the tragedy.
The moment of remembrance for the attack claimed by the Islamic State group comes a day after the government raised the possibility of extending air strikes against IS militants from Iraq to Syria.
The Queen and her husband Prince Philip joined in the silence during a visit to Strathclyde University in Glasgow, while Cameron marked the moment in his Witney constituency northwest of London.
The profile picture on the prime minister’s Twitter account was changed to a sign reading “Remember Tunisia” with the first word written in red.
Britain has launched an investigation into the killings and the police said that they had so far taken 275 witness accounts and that more than 1,200 potential witnesses had returned to Britain.
A special ceremony was also held at the scene of the killings on a sunny beach near Sousse, with dozens of officials and tourists in attendance as Tunisia stepped up security at its holiday resorts.
