Latest news with #Sousse
News.com.au
05-08-2025
- News.com.au
‘Horrible experience': Mum-of-three ‘violated' in parasailing nightmare
A British holiday-maker claims she was sexually assaulted in the air by a parasail operator. Michelle Wilson, 52, says the man pressed himself against her and groped her during the thrill ride. 'I felt violated and dirty and was scared,' she said. Michelle had planned a tandem parasail flight with a pal but was told it was too windy so they would have to go apart, but with an operator. She said her pal went up first 'and had a great time, with no problems'. She said she could see plenty of distance between her friend's body and the parasail operator. But mum-of-three Michelle's experience in Sousse, Tunisia, with a young man strapped behind her was very different. The woman, from Southport, Merseyside, said: 'I could feel the back of my bikini bottoms being pulled and he was pulling the strap. He must have been tightening the harness to get me closer. 'His legs straddled around me, he had one hand up on the parachute, the other wasn't. Then I felt him touch my leg. 'He was groping me and moving back and forth into me and talking to me in Arabic. I felt him pressing against me. I kept arching my back. I felt violated and dirty and was scared. He was only a young lad, maybe around 20. 'It was a horrible experience and I was really scared. I felt helpless hanging in the air.' She burst into tears when she landed and complained to the water sports centre's manager, then to the local police. Michelle paid £6,000 ($A12,300) for the easyJet package holiday in Sousse with her daughter, 17, her 16-year-old twin boys and her daughter's friend, also 17, but felt unable to enjoy the rest of her trip. 'As women you expect a bit of banter from men in these countries, but this wasn't banter, it was a sexual assault,' she said. She believes her attacker has since been arrested, and her insurance firm and the Foreign Office are assisting in the case. EasyJet said: 'The safety and wellbeing of our customers is a priority, and we are continuing to support Ms Wilson. 'We are also liaising closely with our hotel partner to look into the reports.'
Daily Mail
04-08-2025
- Daily Mail
British mother, 52, 'is sexually assaulted in the air by parasail instructor' during holiday in Tunisia
A British mother says she was sexually assaulted while parasailing during a holiday in Tunisia. She claims a male instructor groped her and pressed his body against hers while they were strapped together in the air above the resort town of Sousse. In an interview, the woman, from Merseyside, described how the alleged ordeal left her feeling 'violated and dirty and scared'. She had booked a tandem parasailing flight with a friend, but the staff told them it was too windy for them to go up together. Instead, they would each fly with an operator. Her friend went first and had no issues. Watching from the beach, she noted that there was clearly a significant distance between her friend and the male guide. But she said her own flight was a completely different experience. 'I could feel the back of my bikini bottoms being pulled, and he was pulling the strap. He must have been tightening the harness to get me closer,' she told The Sun. 'His legs straddled around me, he had one hand up on the parachute, the other wasn't. Then I felt him touch my leg. 'He was groping me and moving back and forth into me and talking to me in Arabic. I felt him pressing against me. I kept arching my back. I felt violated and dirty and was scared. He was only a young lad, maybe around 20. 'It was a horrible experience and I was really scared. I felt helpless hanging in the air.' The woman says she burst into tears as soon as she landed and immediately reported the incident to the water sports centre's manager. She then went to the local police. The divorcee had booked the £6,000 easyJet package holiday with her children and was unable to enjoy the rest of the trip. She added: 'As women, you expect a bit of banter from men in these countries, but this wasn't banter, it was a sexual assault.' She says her alleged attacker has since been arrested, and her insurance company, as well as the Foreign Office, is helping her. EasyJet said 'the safety and wellbeing of our customers is a priority, and we are continuing to support' the woman. 'We are also liaising closely with our hotel partner to look into the reports.'
The Sun
03-08-2025
- The Sun
I was sexually assaulted hundreds of feet in air while on paraglide ride during Tunisia holiday… I felt violated & dirty
A BRITISH holidaymaker claims she was sexually assaulted in the air by a paraglide operator. Mum-of-three Michelle Wilson, 52, says the man pressed himself against her and groped her during the thrill ride in Tunisia. 7 7 She said: 'I felt violated and dirty and was scared.' Michelle was taken on the flight with a young Tunisian operator strapped behind her. Footage shows him positioning himself so he was directly behind Michelle, who was wearing a bikini, and pressing up against her. Michelle, from Southport, Merseyside, said: 'I could feel the back of my bikini bottoms being pulled and he was pulling the strap. He must have been tightening the harness to get me closer. 'His legs straddled around me, he had one hand up on the parachute, the other wasn't. Then I felt him touch my leg. 'He was groping me and was moving back and forth into me and was talking to me in Arabic. I felt him pressing against me. 'I kept arching my back. I felt violated and dirty and was scared. He was only a young lad, maybe around 20. 'It was a horrible experience and I was really scared. I felt helpless hanging in the air.' She burst into tears when she landed and complained to the water sports centre's manager, then to the local police. Michelle paid £6,000 for the holiday in Sousse with her daughter, 17, her 16-year-old twin boys and her daughter's friend, also 17. Tunisia and the island of Djerba But she said she felt unable to enjoy the rest of her trip and 'didn't feel safe until I was at home'. She said: 'As women you expect a bit of banter from men in these countries, but this wasn't banter, it was a sexual assault.' Michelle believes her attacker has since been arrested. Her insurance company and the Foreign Office are assisting in the case. EasyJet said: 'The safety and wellbeing of our customers is a priority, and we are continuing to support Ms Wilson. 'We are also liaising closely with our hotel partner to look into the reports.' 7 7 7 7
Arab News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia hands over 129 housing units to Tunisian families
RIYADH: The Kingdom has handed over 129 housing units to families in Tunisia, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. The nation's ambassador to Tunisia, Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Saqr, and Tunisia's Minister of Equipment and Housing Salah Zouari were present for the handover ceremony. The project was funded by the Saudi Development Fund in Sousse governorate, south of Tunis. Zouari thanked the Kingdom for its continued support and solidarity with Tunisia, noting that the project benefits low-income families. Al-Saqr congratulated the beneficiaries and reaffirmed Saudi Arabia's commitment to supporting Tunisia's growth and development across various sectors. The units are a part of the first phase of a social housing program across several Tunisian governorates. The full project aims to provide 4,715 units through concessional financing from the Saudi Development Fund, totaling $150 million.
BBC News
26-06-2025
- BBC News
Keeping alive the memory of Tunisia resort attack victims
On 26 June 2015, Suzy Richards lost three generations of her family in the Tunisia resort attacks, including a son. Another son, Owen, survived. He was 16. On the tenth anniversary of the shooting in Port El Kantaoui near Sousse, Ms Richards - who also lost her father and a brother - has been recalling the moments when, in the UK, she began to realise something was amid the pain, and the fact "every anniversary's difficult", there were now brighter observations to share. Ms Richards said she sometimes felt as if the characteristics of her lost relatives had since "morphed" into Owen, adding: "Owen's all of them now." There is also a charity keeping their memories alive. Charles Patrick Evans, 78; Adrian Evans, 49; and Joel Richards, 19, were among 38 people killed by a gunman at a beach resort. The trio were on holiday to celebrate the end of Owen Richards' GCSE inquest heard Owen had tried to shield his grandfather from the attack, with a coroner praising his Richards, from Walsall, was at work when it happened. "I received a phone call from Owen and that's the first I heard about it," she said."That phone call was, you know... I couldn't comprehend what Owen was saying to me. It was such a shock, it was disbelief."Then I started getting text messages off family and friends asking me what hotel the boys were at and that's when it started to sink in that something had happened."Then I had a Sky News bulletin on my phone and I recognised the hotel." Mr Richards, now 26, told the BBC that one of the things he recalled of the events 10 years ago was that "nobody really" was looking after him before being reunited with his mother."I ended up in a hospital during the night," he said, "and it was a very chaotic, crazy night, with doctors bringing TV camera crews, trying to bring them into the hospital."Ms Richards remembered similar in the UK, saying: "The whole situation was a shock. We just didn't know how to manage it, how to manage the newspapers knocking on our door."She is now supporting those similarly bereaved, helping them to handle the Richards is an MBE, recognised for her services to people bereaved by homicide, including terrorism. The support comes from the Smile for Joel charity, named in memory of her son who was a physical education and sports coaching science student at the University of FC has announced the cause will be the club's official charity partner for the 2025/26 season."We used to say that Walsall matches were like little Jolly Boys' Outings," Owen Richards said, explaining how the late Saddlers fans enjoyed the sitcom Only Fools and Horses which featured an episode of the same name. "It's such a horrible and traumatic event which happened," Mr Richards said. "But [with the charity] we wanted to do something positive, because we know Joel, we know Ade, we know my grandad."They were such amazing people that we don't want their story to be something that's just a horrible tragedy."He said he was "very lucky" to have the three as his role models, and that they had "made me who I am today and mum as well". Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
