Many more frightened tourists were holed up in hotel rooms, calling dedicated hotlines trying to find out how to flee after the devastating terror attack.
Tunisia is in the top 20 holiday hotspots for Britons with more than 20,000 estimated to be there at the moment.
Debbie Horsfall, from Huddersfield, who booked with Thomson and arrived with a friend on Wednesday, is one of the Brits who can’t wait to get out.
She said: “We just want to go home – we packed right away.
“They said there are no flights at the moment until the airport is safe. The hotel and beach are on lockdown.”
Officials from the British Embassy in Tunis are already in Sousse with two more teams en route to offer consular support.
They are warning tourists the attackers may still be at large and British nationals should remain indoors, contact their tour operator and the Foreign Office.
And they are urging people not to advertise their locations on social media.
TUI, Thomson’s parent company, is sending six planes to fly tourists home from Djerba and Enfidha on Friday.
Mohamed Ali Toumi, president of the Tunisian equivalent of Abta, told local radio: “Phone lines have been provided so the injured can reassure their loved ones. There is also cooperation with tour operator so the tourists can be repatriated.
“A specialist team from Britain is on route to Tunisia to determine the degree of danger Tunisia is facing. That assessment will be decisive for the tour operators.
“For the moment I do not want to talk about cancellations because we have to avoid the errors of the past.”
A Belgian tourist jet flying from Brussels to Tunisia turned back today when news of the attacks broke.
Around 400,000 Brits were expected to jet to Tunisia this year – but some big tour operators are now offering refunds or different holidays to those due in country over the next week.
Thomas Cook customers booked to Tunisia over the weekend can cancel free of charge. Those travelling up to July 31 can change bookings at no extra cost.
But Diane Orrell and her husband Eddie from Atherton, Gtr Manchester, have booked to go to Sousse in September and want to cancel.
Diane said: “We are very worried about going now.” Meanwhile world leaders have united to condemn the atrocities.
PM David Cameron said: “We have to deal with this poisonous mindset, this death cult that is poisoning young minds and turning them to violence.”
Mr Cameron, speaking at the EU summit in Brussels, said it was too early to know if today’s terror attacks in France and Kuwait were linked to the Tunisia outrage.
He has offered President Hollande “sympathy and solidarity.”
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will chair a meeting of the emergency committee Cobra to coordinate Britain’s response to the outrages.
America also spoke out, with the White House saying in statement: “The United States condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks in France, Kuwait, and Tunisia.”
Even before the latest atrocities, the Foreign Office had published alerts warning of the dangers of popular destinations.
Countries singled out include Turkey, dangerous because of its border with Syria, home-grown terrorism and the fact it is a transit point for extremists joining IS.
Egypt has long been a favourite tourist destination, but the Foreign Office warns of a heightened risk of terrorist attacks. Morocco is also on high alert.
Tourists are always a soft target' says Mirror Travel editor Nigel Thompson
Horrendous news and another appalling attack on innocent tourists – always a soft target – simply enjoying a hard-earned break in the Mediterranean sunshine.Clearly, this is another hammer blow for the Tunisian holiday industry following on from the assault on cruise ship visitors at the Bardo museum in Tunis in March.
Sousse is a coastal resort and is one of the older cities in Tunisia, with a historic medina.Neighbouring Port El Kantaoui is a purpose-built upmarket tourist and residential complex created in the 1970s, with a busy strip of smart hotels on the beach.
Around 6.1 million foreign tourists visited Tunisia in 2014, with 424,709 from the UK– an all-time record. Most were based at the Mediterranean beach resorts such as Sousse Port El Kantaoui, Hammamet, and Monastir and the island of Djerba.
Tourism is an important sector of the Tunisian economy worth £1.12billion with visitors attracted by its reasonable prices, fine beaches and the Sahara desert.
Movie fans also flock to the country to see the locations for the Star Wars trilogies, especially the traditional Berber troglodyte dwellings at Matmata.
Tour operator and Government advice to holidaymakers
Jet2.com:No holidaymakers in the two affected hotels, but do have customers in the resort. Families due to fly out to Tunisia on or before July 5 have the option of cancelling or changing their holiday free of charge.
Monarch and Cosmos:
Customers due to travel in the next seven days can change their date or destination without the usual charges, although a fare difference may still apply.
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