49 dead in New Zealand mosque shootings

Attacks on two Christchurch mosques left at least 49 dead  on Friday, with one gunman -- identified as an Australian extremist -- apparently livestreaming the assault that triggered the lockdown of the New Zealand city

Police said two mosques were targeted in the attack. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said marked one of country's darkest days.

Witnesses spoke of victims being shot at close range, with women and children also believed to be among those killed.

The gunman at one mosque was an Australian-born citizen, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in Sydney. He described him as “an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist“.

It was not immediately clear how many attackers were involved, but New Zealand police said that four people - three men and a woman - were taken into custody.

Commissioner Mike Bush said there were “significant” and “multiple” fatalities. A number of IEDS (improved explosive devices) were also found and neutralised by the military.

A witness who was in one of the mosques said he saw someone being shot in the head.

“I heard three quick shots, then after about 10 seconds it started again. It must have been an automatic - no one could pull a trigger that quick,” the man said.

“Then people started running out. Some were covered in blood,” he said, adding that he joined the fleeing crowd and managed to escape. Local media reported at least nine people were dead.

Police, who initially imposed a city-wide lockdown, sent armed officers to a number of scenes.

“This is an evolving incident and we are working to confirm the facts, however we can confirm there have been a number of fatalities. Police are responding with its full capability to manage the situation, but the risk environment remains extremely high,” Bush said.

An ashen-faced Ardern said she was unable to confirm the number of fatalities, with events still unfolding.

“It is clear that this is one of New Zealand’s darkest days. Clearly, what has happened here is an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence,” she told reporters.

The two known targets were the Masjid al Noor in central Christchurch, and a second mosque in suburban Linwood.

One witness said he was praying when he heard shooting -- and then saw his wife lying dead on the footpath outside when he fled. Another man said he saw children being shot.

“There were bodies all over,” he said.

An eyewitness said that he heard shots fired and four people were lying on the ground, with “blood everywhere“.

Police warned Muslims all over the country not to visit mosques anywhere in New Zealand.

Lockdown lifted

The police on Friday lifted a lockdown put in place after deadly armed assaults on two Christchurch mosques, allowing frantic parents to pick up their children.

Earlier, the authorities had locked down schools throughout Christchurch as well as the Civic Offices and Central Library.

The city council has also offered a helpline for parents looking for kids attending a mass climate change rally nearby.

Police warn of ‘distressing’ footage

The police warned against sharing footage relating to the shooting, after a video online showed a gunman filming himself firing at worshippers inside a mosque.

A news agency analysed a copy of a Facebook Live video that shows a clean-shaven, Caucasian man with short hair driving to a mosque, then shooting as he enters the building.

The new agency confirmed the video was genuine through a digital investigation that included matching screenshots of the mosque taken from the gunman’s footage with multiple images available online showing the same areas.

This included the entrance of the mosque, which has a number of distinct features such as a fence, postbox and doorway.

Inside the mosque, the gunman’s footage showed distinctively patterned green carpet that also matched images tagged on Google Maps as being at the same location.

Distinctive writing on the gunman’s weapons seen in the footage also matched images posted on a Twitter account using the same name and cartoon profile picture as the Facebook Live video.

A long manifesto posted on the same Twitter account detailed racial motivations for the attack.

The Facebook account that posted the video was no longer available shortly after the shooting. The Twitter account of the same name was quickly suspended.

Bangladesh cricket team escapes

Bangladesh’s cricket team escaped unscathed after a deadly shooting at a mosque in New Zealand, an official said on Friday.

Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus said most of the team were bussed to the mosque in Christchurch and were about to go inside when the incident happened.

“They are safe. But they are mentally shocked. We have asked the team to stay confined in the hotel,” he said.

Shrinivas Chandrasekaran, the team’s high performance analyst, posted, “Just escaped active shooters!!! Heartbeats pumping badly and panic everywhere!!”

Mazhar Uddin, a reporter for daily in Bangladesh, who is travelling with the team, said they were told a shooting was going on when they arrived at Christchurch’s Masjid Al Noor.

“The distraught Bangladesh players got inside a bus and laid down on the floor after the warning,” he reported.

The Test match between New Zealand and Bangladesh has been cancelled on account of the attack.

Mass shootings are rare in New Zealand, which tightened its gun laws to restrict access to semi-automatic rifles in 1992, two years after a mentally ill man shot dead 13 people in the South Island town of Aramoana.

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