Christchurch mosque shootings: Terrifying minutes as he lay beneath two dying men
17 Mar, 2019 7:05pm
5 minutes to read
This is a modal window.
The Video Cloud video is not playable.
Error Code: VIDEO_CLOUD_ERR_NOT_PLAYABLE
Session ID: 2019-03-19:4eac11af8eb3f15fa72e849b Player Element ID:vjs_video_6014851760001
Christchurch Hospital Head of Surgery Greg Robertson speaks to the media about the treatment of the mosque shooting victims. / CNN
Other
Shihadeh Nasasrah, 63, who was wounded in the Christchurch mosque shooting, said he spent terrifying minutes lying underneath two dying men as the gunman kept firing.
The assailant "would go out and bring more ammunition and resume shooting," said Nasasrah, speaking by phone from a Christchurch hospital where he was recovering from two shots to the leg.
"Every time he stopped, I thought he was gone. But he returned over and over again. I was afraid to leave because I didn't know the safest way out. I died several times, not one time."
Nasasrah had attended Friday prayers at the Al Noor Mosque with his friend, Abdel Fattah Qasim, 60, who was killed in the shooting. Both were originally from the West Bank — Nasasrah from the town of Beit Furik and Qasim from the town of Arabeh.
Nasasrah said about 200 to 300 worshippers were in the mosque for Friday prayers, and that he and his friend were sitting in the front, near the imam, or prayer leader. The imam was delivering the sermon when the gunman burst into the mosque, he said.
"Panic spread all over the place," Nasasrah said. "Some started saying Allahu Akbar (God is great). We scrambled to leave toward a second door that leads to a hall and then to the street, but the bullets brought us down."
"Two people came on top of me, and he (the gunman) approached us and opened fire. Both were killed and I felt them dying," Nasasrah said. "I felt their blood. I myself was shot and I thought 'I'm dying'."
He said he uttered the words that devout Muslims speak before their death — "there is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his messenger."
Nasasrah, a car dealer, said most of the worshippers were from Asia, including Indonesia, India, Singapore and Malaysia, and that Arabs made up a smaller part of the congregation.The attack left him and other Muslims in the area worried and puzzled.
"I never heard a racist word in this country," he said. "I don't know what happened and why. I will not leave this country. Our lives are well established here, our homes, works, family is here and we will not leave."
As a young man, Nasasrah studied English in the Syrian capital of Damascus, and then worked as a translator at the New Zealand embassy in Saudi Arabia for 14 years. The father of three moved to New Zealand in 1990. His three children graduated from universities in New Zealand and have established their lives in the country.
Stories from the wounded
SABRI DARAGHMEHA
Jordanian man says his 4-year-old niece is fighting for her life after being wounded. Sabri Daraghmeh said by phone from Jordan on Saturday that the girl, Elin, remains "in the danger phase" and that her father, Waseem — Sabri's brother — is in stable condition.
Daraghmeh says the 33-year-old Waseem moved to New Zealand five years ago and that he described it as the "safest place one could ever live in."
The Daraghmehs are of Palestinian origin, but have Jordanian citizenship, like several others listed as Jordanian nationals among those killed and wounded in the mosque attacks.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Saturday that at least four Palestinians were among those killed, but acknowledged they could have been counted by Jordan or other countries.
MOHAMMED ELYAN
Mohammed Elyan, a Jordanian in his 60s who co-founded one of the mosques in 1993, was among those wounded, as was his son, Atta, who is in his 30s. That's according to Muath Elyan, Mohammed's brother, who said he spoke to Mohammed's wife after the shooting.
Muath said his brother helped establish the mosque a year after arriving in New Zealand, where he teaches engineering at a university and runs a consultancy. He said his brother last visited Jordan two years ago.
"He used to tell us life was good in New Zealand and its people are good and welcoming. He enjoyed freedom there and never complained about anything," Muath told The Associated Press.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12213610
. 
Geplaatst door ISWAP 