Bangladesh players head for safety of home

Bangladesh cricketers have put their harrowing ordeal in Christchurch behind them, leaving the city under police guard yesterday.

The players were minutes away from being in Christchurch’s Masjid Al Noor Mosque when Friday’s mass shootings happened.

Team manager Khaled Mashud said they were counting their blessings after they narrowly avoided being in the Deans Avenue mosque for their Friday prayer session.

Bangladesh players and management departed Christchurch yesterday, travelling from their central city hotel to Christchurch Airport in the team bus under police escort.

They were guarded by armed police as they made their way through the airport and the playing group flew out of the city at noon. Bangladesh’s support staff were scheduled to take a later flight.

In Christchurch for the scheduled third test against New Zealand, which was cancelled, the Bangladesh team bus, carrying 17 players and support staff, arrived outside the mosque on Friday, where 41 people were killed, to horrific scenes.

‘‘Had we reached even three or four minutes earlier we would have probably been inside the mosque,’’ Mashud told Bangladesh media in a video posted on Cricinfo.

‘‘The visuals we saw were straight out of a movie scene.

‘‘We could see blood-stained people stagger out of the mosque from our bus.’’

Timing was critical for the Bangladesh squad on Friday and Mashud said they could have easily been caught up in the shootings.

‘‘We are lucky that if the players had either gotten off the bus later or gone to the mosque earlier it would have been difficult to get out.’’

The Bangladesh players had planned to have their Friday prayer worship before making their way to Hagley Oval to train ahead of the third test, which was set to begin yesterday.

Players Nayeem Hasan and Liton Das were back at the team hotel with the coaches.

Mashud, the former Bangladesh captain and wicketkeeper, said they were inside the bus for ‘‘eight to 10 minutes’’ and sat with their heads bowed ‘‘just in case someone fires at us’’.

Their team bus was only about 50 metres from the mosque and players were crying and worrying how they would safely get out of the vehicle. One Bangladesh player said he saw a dead body lying on the street.

‘‘I would be very thankful that we weren’t caught in the crossfire. This could have been a massive incident,’’ Mashud said.

When the Bangladesh team realised the shooter could inflict more damage if he spotted them on the bus, they made the collective decision to disembark and escape for Hagley Oval through South Hagley Park.

They were housed securely in a dressing room at the ground while a local liaison person explained how they would get back to their hotel safely.

The Bangladesh players were understandably traumatised by the incident.

‘‘It is natural to be affected when you see something like a terror attack in front of you and you see blood spilled in front of you. This will affect any human being,’’ Mashud said.

Bangladesh’s squad were disappointed their tour to New Zealand had been cut short by the shootings. Cricket seemed trivial at a time like this and they were just eager to return to Bangladesh to their loved ones.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White told Stuff on Friday their thoughts were with the Bangladesh team and people in Christchurch affected by the shootings.

‘‘We are shocked and appalled as I’m sure all New Zealanders are,’’ White said.

White said the New Zealand players were distressed by the mass shootings and they were trying to get the out-of town Black Caps home to their families as quickly as they could.

A NZC spokesman yesterday said Black Caps players and management were not available for comment. ‘‘This isn’t about them and they can’t offer much in terms of new information.’’