Irish woman 'shot in Tunisia attack'

An Irish woman was reportedly one of those shot in today's terror attack in Tunisia.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said earlier it had no reports of any Irish being injured in the attack in Sousse, on the eastern coast of the country. Twenty-seven people, thought to mostly be German and British tourists, were killed.

However, reports are now emerging that a middle-aged woman from Meath was shot when a gunman opened fire on the beach at the resort, and that her condition is unknown.

The Irish Independent reports that she is on holiday with her husband in the resort, but that he was not with her on the beach when the attack happened.

Fine Gael TD Ray Butler told independent.ie the man was "absolutely distraught".

The Department of Foreign Affairs has opened a Consular Support Line - 01 408 2000.

The resort at Sousse

Rafik Chelli, one of Tunisia's leading security officials, told Mosaique FM that one gunman, who was shot by security forces, was unknown to authorities.

[media=insta]//instagram.com/p/4ZWDQ0mItI/media]

He said the man, from the city of Kairouan, came from the beach hiding his Kalashnikov under an umbrella before opening fire on tourists. From there he entered the Hotel Imperial through the pool, shooting people as he went.

There are reports that a second gunman is still at large.

Mr Chelli said there were many foreigners among the victims but he did not have an exact count of nationalities.

He said authorities had a plan to protect hotels during the month of Ramadan but this was an isolated operation that would have been difficult to counter.