Bangladesh players and support staff have been preparing for the third test of a series against New Zealand, set to begin on Saturday, and were walking through Hagley Park when shooting broke out at the Al Noor mosque.
The Bangladesh cricket team (pictured) were on their way to Al Noor Mosque when shooting broke out inside
Tweets from sports reporters and team members say the group just escaped the shooting, which saw a man enter the mosque and fire multiple shots at dozens of people as they tried to flee.
The team’s opening batsman, Tamim Iqbal said on Twitter the ‘entire team got saved from active shooters.
He said it was a frightening experience and asked supporters to keep the team in their prayers.
Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim said Allah had saved the team. We r [sic] extremely lucky, he wrote. Never want to see this things [sic] happen again… pray for us.
Shrinivas Chandrasekaran, the team’s performance and strategic analyst said they had just escaped active shooters. He said their hearts were pounding and there was panic everywhere.
ESPN cricinfo correspondent Mohammad Isam told the New Zealand Herald the team were not in a mental state to play cricket at all, following the horrific attack.
I think they want to go back home as soon as possible. I’m speaking from experience, I’m speaking from what I’ve heard, he said.
Everyone is at the Hagley Park dressing room … two players are back at the hotel. They didn’t come out for the prayers so they are back at the hotel and the entire coaching staff are safe.
The scheduled test between New Zealand and Bangladesh has been cancelled. A witness told Radio New Zealand he heard shots fired and saw ‘blood everywhere’.