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Tamim Iqbal spoke to Mohammad Isam of ESPNcricinfo about Friday afternoon's events, when the Bangladesh team was affected by death near one of the two mosques in Christchurch, the target of 39 terrorist attacks killing at least 49 people.
Let me tell you what happened before getting on the bus. This will help you understand how these two or three minutes have made a huge difference for us. Normally Mushfiq [Rahim] and Riyadh bhai [Mahmudullah] want to be present during the Khutbah [sermon]that's why we want to reach the Jumm & # 39; a prayers early. The bus was due to leave at 13:30, but Riyadh bhai had gone to the press conference. He spent some time there and, once the press conference was over, he went to the locker room.
In the locker room, we engaged in a football game. Taijul [Islam] did not want to lose, but the others wanted him to lose in this game. Taijul and Mushfiq had a one-on-one match, which took a few more minutes. These little things saved us in the end.
READ ALSO – Bangladesh team leaves Christchurch and tries to move on
We got on the bus right after. The plan was to go to the hotel's team after the prayers, that's why Shree [team badyst Shrinivas Chandrasekaran] and Soumya Sarkar (both Hindu) were with us. As this was an optional training, those who were not going to train remained at the hotel and those who trained returned to the ground. That was the plan.
I am still sitting on the sixth seat on the left. As we approached the mosque, everyone on my right began to see something through the window. I saw that a body was lying on the ground. We naturally thought that he was drunk or had fainted. So, the bus continued and stopped near the mosque. But everyone's attention remained with this man lying on the ground.
Meanwhile, my attention turned to another man, bloody and about to fall. Panic will be installed at this time.
Our bus stopped in front of a car near the mosque. We saw that the bus driver was talking to a woman who was literally shaking and crying. She said, "There are gunshots, do not leave, do not leave."
Our bus driver said that these guys are going to the mosque. She said, "No, no, no, do not go to the mosque, it's happening in the mosque." She started crying. Everyone heard and saw it, and we started to panic a bit more. We were then about 20 meters from the mosque. Get out of the bus literally and walk to the mosque. It's close. We saw other bloody bodies lying around the mosque.
When we saw more corpses, we did not know what to do. Those who wear the namaz cap, they removed it in fear. I mean we understood that something was happening. Those who wear punjabi [shalwar kameez] they started wearing a jacket over it. What else to do?
We then simply lay on the bus floor. It was about seven or eight minutes at this point. We still did not know exactly what it was, but we knew that there was some kind of violence.
We panicked a lot. Look at me, I can not even speak properly. We told the bus driver to get us out of there. Do something. But he did not move. Everyone started screaming at him. I shouted at him. For those six or seven minutes, there was no police.
Then, suddenly, the police appeared and, just as the special forces stormed the mosque, we just lost it. We became numb. My whole body has become cold. More and more wounded and bloodied people started to leave the mosque.
READ ALSO – "There is shooting here, please, save us"
It was the moment when we could not control ourselves. We started shouting, "Let's go!" Some said, "And if they were shooting at us when we went out?" Someone said, "We are in danger if we get stuck in the bus." I also felt that we would have a chance to escape if we got off the bus. We become a big target on the bus. Where will we go? Both doors are closed.
At that time, for whatever reason, the driver took the bus 10 meters away. I do not know why he did that. We were at a breaking point at this point. Everyone lost it. We started to hit the middle door. We kicked and knocked on the door. He opened the door.
When he took the bus, I started calling you. You thought I was joking. I was not able to tell you, "Isam bhai I'm serious. "You heard right? I lost my head when I saw Mazhar. [Uddin, the journalist] I'm calling I did not know what was going on.
It was about eight minutes when he finally got off the bus. Everyone said, let's run through the park. Someone said we were becoming easier targets in the park. What if the shooters noticed us and started shooting?
The next thing that really scared us was the reaction of the police who saw us running with bags, etc. At that time, I saw you all three. [Isam and fellow journalists Utpal Shuvro and Mazhar Uddin]. I did not realize it at the time, but last night I realized how much you took a considerable risk.
There will be very few people on earth who will take that risk. I do not think a lot of loved ones would have found themselves in this situation, as you came. I am relieved when I saw you. Then we all started walking. By the time we had traveled a good distance, everyone started to run to the ground.
You know, you saw death with your own eyes. Your body becomes cold. It was something we will never forget. And it's such a thing, it gets worse every hour we spend. I've talked to a lot of my teammates and everyone is talking about it. The good thing is that everyone still has a small smile on their face. But believe me, inside, everyone is broken.
We went back to the hotel's team and went straight to Riyadh bhaithe room of. We started watching the shooter's video. The players started to cry, as they did in the locker room.
One thing is certain, Isam bhaiit will take a long time to get there. I hope families help us. We may need advice. I close my eyes and see these scenes. Last night, most cricketers slept in groups. I've slept with [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz and [mbadeur Mohammad] Sohel bhai. I've dreamed that these guys are cycling.
On the way to the airport, we told ourselves that if something went wrong, it was our corpses, not us, who were returning home. It was just a matter of 30 seconds.
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