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2 Spanish Tourists Hid in Tunisian Museum Overnight

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A man holds a Tunisian and a Catalan flag during a minute of silence held outside Barcelona's city hall in Barcelona on March 19, 2015.
A man holds a Tunisian and a Catalan flag during a minute of silence held outside Barcelona's city hall in Barcelona on March 19, 2015.Josep Lago—AFP/Getty Images
By Noah Rayman

Two Spanish tourists emerged unscathed from a Tunisian museum Thursday morning alongside the museum worker who helped hide them, one day after gunmen opened fire on visitors in an attack that left at least 23 people dead.

The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo confirmed to reporters in Spain on Thursday that the two tourists, Juan Carlos Sanchez and Cristina Rubio, were safe, according to the Associated Press. Rubio is four months pregnant.

At least 23 people were killed, including the two gunmen, and dozens were injured on Wednesday in the assault on the National Bardo Museum, the worst terror attack in the country in years.

The museum employee helped hide the two tourists in an office during the attack, AFP reports, citing a representative of the Tunisian security forces. All three people, who were uninjured, were taken to a hospital Thursday for medical tests.

“I thought my son was dead. Now I’m relieved,” the employee’s mother told AFP.

It’s still unclear how the three survivors were not found by security forces who spent the night searching for them following the attack.

[AFP]

Witness Scenes From Tunisia Museum Attack

Members of the Tunisian security services take up a position after gunmen reportedly took hostages near the country's parliament, outside the National Bardo Museum, Tunis, March 18, 2015.
Members of the Tunisian security services take up a position after gunmen reportedly took hostages near the country's parliament, outside the Bardo Museum in Tunis, March 18, 2015. Mohamed Messare—EPA
Tunisian security forces secure the area after gunmen attacked Tunis' famed Bardo Museum on March 18, 2015.
Tunisian security forces secure the area after gunmen attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 18, 2015. Fethi Belaid—AFP/Getty Images
Tunisian security forces secure the area after gunmen attacked Tunis' famed Bardo Museum on March 18, 2015.
Tunisian security forces secure the area after gunmen attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 18, 2015.Fethi Belaid—AFP/Getty Images
Tourists and visitors from the Bardo museum are evacuated in Tunis, March 18, 2015.
Tourists and visitors from the Bardo Museum are evacuated in Tunis, March 18, 2015.Hassene Dridi—AP
A victim arrives at the Charles Nicoles hospital, Wednesday, March 18, 2015 in Tunis.
A victim arrives at the Charles Nicoles hospital, March 18, 2015 in Tunis.Edel Ezine—AP
A Tunisian security force helicopter flies over the site of an attack carried out by two gunmen at the National Bardo Museum on March 18, 2015 in Tunis.
A Tunisian security force helicopter flies over the site of an attack carried out by two gunmen at the Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 18, 2015.Salah Habibi—AFP/Getty Images

 

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Write to Noah Rayman at noah.rayman@time.com