Survivor tells of consoling terrified boy
Child cried for help as bullets flew and his dad lay dying
As bullets flew at the Linwood mosque on Friday afternoon, Tofazzal Alam comforted a child who cried for help as his father lay dying. Between 60 and 70 people were reportedly in the mosque to pray when the gunman opened fire, spraying shots all over the room.
“The boy next to me, he was young, maybe 11, 12 years old and screaming to me, ‘My father is dying, my father is dying’,” Alam said.
“So I tried to hold him very strongly so that he also can stay down like myself and he can’t get hurt because I saw people who were standing and screaming that they got hurt.”
The gunman allegedly shot and killed seven people at the Linwood mosque after killing 41 at the Al Noor Mosque.
One person died in hospital after the attack and police said on Sunday another body had been found, raising the death toll to 50.
Bullet shells, lifeless bodies and bloodstains were scattered throughout the Linwood mosque after the attack as survivors wept for the dead.
Dead bodies could be seen outside the mosque as panic took over and people tried to understand what happened while checking on others, calling loved ones and emergency services.
Alam, originally from Bangladesh, moved to Auckland to study in 2014, eventually moving to Christchurch in 2016 to complete his studies.
The 26-year-old goes to the Linwood mosque on Fridays to pray and mistook the sound of gunfire for the sound of a car crashing into another in the carpark.
“The whole driveway was fully parked so I thought someone had hit someone’s car and they were fighting outside, I never thought it was a gunshot,” Alam said.
“When I saw people lying down and blood everywhere, people screaming, then I understand someone is killing us, shooting towards us.” He was uninjured in the attack, but a man beside him was shot in the forehead and Alam believed he had died but was unsure.
Since the shootings the business and digital marketing graduate has been scared to leave the house but he says he is thankful for the support from people around New Zealand.
He said the country has responded to the terror attack “very well” and the Muslim community has lost no love for Kiwis.
“We want to be together in this country with respect, peace and love, I think New Zealanders respond very well, they are lovely people,” he told the Herald.
“People are really welcoming in New Zealand . . . sometimes something scary happens but not often. But I never thought someone would be killed here.
“They love us and we love them. Everyone is trying to support each other so that it won’t happen again in this country.”