Summary Five British citizens have been killed in the gun massacre at a packed holiday resort in Tunisia.
LONDON (AFP) - Five British citizens have been killed in the gun massacre at a packed holiday resort in Tunisia on Friday, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said, warning that the toll could rise.
He said a "high proportion" of the 37 people killed and 36 wounded in the attack at the popular Mediterranean resort of Port el Kantaoui were expected to be British.
Meanwhile police said they were stepping up security for a number of high-profile events across Britain this weekend to "protect and reassure" people.
"We have had reports from families of those involved in the incident that allow us to confirm that at least five Britons have been killed in this incident," Hammond said after chairing a meeting of the government s emergency response committee in London.
"But I should warn that we must expect that there will be more reports of fatalities as we establish the detail on the ground."
He added: "Because of the nature of the composition of the tourist population in this part of Tunisia we have to assume that a high proportion of those killed and injured will have been British."
Prime Minister David Cameron, who earlier branded the massacre and other attacks in France and Kuwait on Friday as the fruit of "perverted ideology", offered his condolences.
"My heart is with the families of all the British victims of the Tunisian terror attack. We are to help and support them," he said on Twitter, adding that he was "sickened" by Friday s events.
The death toll was announced as more harrowing testimonies emerged from British survivors, including from one woman who described how her fiance was shot three times -- in the shoulder, chest and hip -- while trying to protect her.
"I owe him my life because he threw himself in front of me when the shooting started," 26-year-old holidaymaker Saera Wilson, from Wales, told the BBC.
"He was covered in blood from the shots, but he just told me to run away. He told me: I love you babe. But just go -- tell our children that their daddy loves them ."
Matthew James, 30, survived but is in intensive care in hospital, added Wilson.
"You just can t explain how terrible it was. It was chaos with screaming and gunshots. I m just so glad Matthew is alive because so many other people are dead," she said.
Hammond said Britain had a consular team on the ground in Sousse, the beach resort where the attack occurred, with two further "rapid response teams" arriving overnight.
He said he had held a conference call with tour operators and there would be a further government emergency response meeting on Saturday morning.
Helen Ball, deputy assistant commissioner of London s Metropolitan Police, said there would be additional security at a number of major public events this weekend, including a national celebration of the armed forces which is often attended by Cameron and senior ministers.
"As we approach a weekend of large public celebrations around the country, including Armed Forces Day events and Pride London, we will be putting in place additional security measures to help protect and reassure the public."
In updated travel advice on its website, the Foreign Office warned that some attackers "may still be at large" and urged any British nationals holidaying in or near the resort to stay indoors, and not to advertise their location on social media or when speaking to journalists.
