Tunisia attack: Victim died on way to hospital after 20-minute ambulance delay

A British man wounded in the Tunisia attack died on the way to hospital after his ambulance sat motionless outside his hotel for up to 20 minutes before leaving, an inquest heard.

James McQuire, 66, was wounded but conscious next to the body of his wife of 43 years, Ann, but died as he was being taken to hospital.

Mr McQuire was with his wife on their first holiday away after retiring when extremist Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel, leaving 38 people dead.

The Glasgow-born couple, who lived in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, were shot near the hotel swimming pool as they tried to flee.

Mrs McQuire died at the scene and Mr McQuire died of his injuries before reaching the hospital, an inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London heard.

Holidaymaker Carol Harrison, a staff nurse from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary who tended Mr McQuire in the ambulance, said apart from a doctor and the ambulance crew she saw no other medically trained people at the scene.

She said she was told there were no first aid kits available and the ambulance looked like a "patient transport" vehicle rather than an emergency one with no equipment barring oxygen.

Asked how long it waited outside the hotel she said: "It was 15 to 20 minutes. I asked several times 'can we go? This man is having trouble breathing, he needs to go to hospital'."

After the ambulance finally left, she said, Mr McQuire suffered a cardiac arrest.

Mrs Harrison, a nurse for 37 years, told how she and husband Brian, a trained first aider, had gone to help the wounded.

She said she came across "Jim from Cumbernauld" as he lay next to his wife but decided not to move him because he had been shot in the pelvis, fearing the wound, which had stopped bleeding, would restart if she did.

But she said as she comforted him hotel staff came and lifted him onto a sunlounger before taking him to the ambulance.

The couple's son Stuart said in a statement his parents had been robbed of a future retirement after years of hard work.

He wrote: "This was meant to be the first of many holidays, sadly this was not to be. They were taken from us before their time.

"They were both stolen from us in a senseless attack, along with so many. I feel they were just starting a new chapter in their lives where they could spend more time with each other."

He said that since the attack his wife Nicola had given birth to his parents' first grandchild, a girl who had been named Lily Ann in memory of her grandmother.

He said Lily had "brought joy to the family after so much tragedy", but added: "It's heartbreaking for the family that they have missed out on meeting Lily and they will not be able to watch her grow."

The inquest, which is due to last between six and eight weeks, continues.