Witnesses Describe Christchurch Attack: "I Saw People Falling Dead" | News from the world

Before the shooting started, the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, was "peaceful, quiet and silent".

"As at the beginning of the sermon, you can hear a falling pin," said a man identified in Ramzan on Friday.

Then around 13:40 during the afternoon prayers, shots broke out.

"It started in the main room … I was in the next room, so I did not see who was shooting, but I saw that some people were running in the room where I was going. I had seen that some people had blood on their bodies and some people were limping, "Ramzan told reporters.

"It's when I realized that things were really serious."

Forty people were confirmed dead after shooting Friday in two mosques in Christchurch. Three suspects – including at least one Australian – are in police custody and several explosive devices have been found tied to cars in the city.

At least one of the shootings seems to have been broadcast live on Facebook and a video supposed to show that the shooting started to circulate on social media immediately after the attack. This shows what appears to be the shooter heading towards the mosque before starting his rampage.

The 16-minute video shows the man who was heading to the mosque with several very powerful rifles scribbled messages beside him on the pbadenger seat of his Subaru money.

"Remember boys, subscribe to Pewdiepie," he says, a reference to Swedish celebrity on YouTube and to the video player.

Approaching the entrance to the mosque, he begins to fire indiscriminately on the people who are in the interior. After several minutes, he goes off, randomly shooting at people in the street through the windshield of his car.

Police have urged people not to share these "painful" images, but testimonies of the attack paint a scary picture of events taking place inside the crowded mosque.

Farid Ahmed recounted that he was hiding under a bench inside to escape the gunman as he was crossing the building.

"People began to hurry, to run out [and] the guy turned them on and started shooting at them … so I knew I did not have a chance, "he said.

"There was a bench, I just laid it out [with] half of my body under the bench and my legs apart. Pretend to stop my breath. He has changed magazines seven times. Bang, bang, bang, then when the bullets stop there [would] change the magazine again.

"The mosque is in some compartments, he went into all the compartments and he shot everyone."

Ramzan, who is in a wheelchair, said the shooting lasted "six minutes or more".

"I heard screaming and crying, I saw people falling dead, others running away, I was in a wheelchair, so I could not get anywhere." ", did he declare.

He told reporters that he had been forced back into the mosque after the shooting ended, trying to find his wife and help others.

"On the right, I saw about 20 people and more, some were dead, others were screaming. On the left, there were more than 10 people, some were dead, "he said.

"I saw ball shells on the ground, by the hundreds."

Ahmad Al-Mahmoud said he saw the gunman "cross and shoot everyone in the mosque". People were trying to pbad through closed doors and break windows, he told Stuff.co.

"We are trying to scare everyone out of the area because we could not get everyone out the door," he said.

"I did not see the guy, but he was wearing a helmet and those clothes.

"[There was] at least more than 50 balls … [it was] fast enough … could be more than hundreds. "

Mohan Ibrahim told the New Zealand Herald that he had entered the mosque when he had heard gunshots.

"At first we thought it was an electric shock, but all these people started running," he said.

"I always have friends inside. I call my friends, but there are many whom I have not heard of. I am scared for the life of my friends. "

Police said that a second shooting had occurred at the Linwood Masjid.

"The multiple victims are, to our knowledge, in two mosques (in Christchurch)," they said Friday.

"We do not know if there are other places under threat."