The Bangladesh cricket team “just escaped” after shots were fired at a Christchurch mosque near to where the team was due to play the final Test match of their tour of New Zealand.
ESPN Cricinfo reporter Mohammed Isam said members of the Bangladesh cricket team, who are set to play a test match in Christchurch on Saturday, escaped from the mosque.
Bangladesh tour of NZ called off after Christchurch terror attack
https://twitter.com/insightindiaprs/status/1106437097316106240
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Batsman Tamim Iqbal says he and his teammates fled after shots were fired at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in the New Zealand city
Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s highest run scorer, said he and his teammates were able to flee the scene. He described the experience as “frightening”.
Entire team got saved from active shooters!!! Frightening experience and please keep us in your prayers #christchurchMosqueAttack
— Tamim Iqbal Khan (@TamimOfficial28) March 15, 2019
All team members and staff caught up in the incident were able to return safely to their hotel, Bangladesh Cricket confirmed, after taking refuge in the immediate aftermath in the dressing rooms at Hagley Oval.
Mario Villavarayen, strength and conditioning coach of the Bangladesh cricket team, was quoted by the New Zealand Herald as saying the team was close to where the shooting occurred but was safe.
“The players are shaken up but fine,” Villavarayen was quoted as saying.
Peneha described the scene at Masjid Al Noor as ” unbelievable”.
“I don’t understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It’s ridiculous. I’ve lived next door to this mosque for about five years and the people are great, they’re very friendly. I just don’t understand it,” he said.
Muslims account for just one percent of New Zealand’s population, a 2013 census showed.
“Many of those who would have been affected by this shooting may be migrants to New Zealand,” Ardern said.
“They may even be refugees here. They have chosen to make New Zealand their home and it is their home … they are us. The persons who perpetuated this violence against us … have no place in New Zealand.”
