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Bangladesh cricketers escape Christchurch mosque shooting

The incident took place on Friday (March 15) around 1.45 PM local time when some of the team members had gone to pray near the venue while members of the coaching staff, with a few players, were at the hotel.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal was one of the members who was in the mosque

Christchurch, March 15: Bangladesh team have been put in a lockdown at the Hagley Oval dressing room in Christchurch after few of their players survived a shooting attempt at the Al Noor Mosque, according to reports.

The incident took place on Friday (March 15) around 1.45 PM local time when some of the team members had gone to pray near the venue while members of the coaching staff, with a few players, were at the hotel.

Bangladesh are in Christchurch ahead of their third Test against New Zealand, scheduled to start on Saturday (March 16).

"The players are shaken up but fine. I spoke to one of them shortly after (the incident). They didn't see anything but heard gunshots. They were at the ground (Hagley Oval) and just started running," strength and conditioning coach Mario Villavarayen revealed after the incident.

"The coaching staff were all at the hotel. The players just started running when they heard the shots. I don't know how many (shots) there were. This happened at about 1.45pm."

In a statement posted on Twitter, Bangladesh confirmed the team were safe.

"All members of the Bangladesh Cricket Team in Christchurch, New Zealand are safely back in the hotel following the incident of shooting in the city," the tweet said. "The Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB] is in constant contact with the players and team management."

Meanwhile, opening batsman Tamim Iqbal, who was at the mosque during the incident tweeted that it was a "frightening experience".

"Entire team got saved from active shooters!!!" tweeted Tamim Iqbal. "Frightening experience and please keep us in your prayers."

Mushfiqur Rahim also tweeted, writing: "Alhamdulillah Allah save [sic] us today while shooting in Christchurch in the mosque...we r [sic] extremely lucky...never want to see this [sic] things happen again....pray for us."

(With inputs from Agencies)

Story first published: Friday, March 15, 2019, 9:53 [IST]
Other articles published on Mar 15, 2019