'She got the bullet, her husband got away': Wife was shot dead while searching for partner during mosque carnage... as other survivors smashed through windows to escape

  • Nour Tavis revealed a friend lost his wife after she turned back to look for him 
  • The survivor at Al Noor mosque was forced to jump out of the window to escape  
  • Anwar Alsaleh revealed he heard people begging for their lives in terror attack 
  • One man in his late 20s has been charged with murder, two others in custody 

By Dianne Apen-sadler For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A woman was shot dead while searching for her husband during the New Zealand mosque massacre, a survivor has revealed. 

A gunman, who identified himself as Brenton Tarrant from Grafton, Australia, shot at around 100 defenceless worshippers attending Friday prayers at the Al Noor mosque, with many jumping out of windows to escape, reports the NZ Herald.  

Nour Tavis said one of his friends lost his wife during the terror attack, in which 49 people were killed at two separate shootings, after she turned back to look for him.

He told the NZ Herald: 'When she heard the noise she wanted to go and make sure her husband was safe.

'She got the bullet, her husband got away. She was gone, she was no more.'

Survivor Nour Tavis said one of his friends lost his wife during the terror attack, in which 49 people were killed at two separate shootings, after she turned back to look for him (pictured: one of the victims)

Survivor Nour Tavis said one of his friends lost his wife during the terror attack, in which 49 people were killed at two separate shootings, after she turned back to look for him (pictured: one of the victims)

Tavis was among numerous survivors who were forced to jump out of the windows to flee from the killer who filmed his shooting spree with a body camera.

He added: 'There was shooting and shooting and shooting ... people were running and all of a sudden you saw them fall.'

Speaking of the moment he saw people jumping out of the windows, Tavis added: 'It was the only way to escape. I followed.'  

After escaping the inside of the mosque, he scaled a fence and banged on the door of a neighbour until they let him in. He later went back to help the injured. 

Anwar Alsaleh had been preparing for Friday prayers on the Muslim holy day at the  mosque when the gunman walked in.

He hid in a bathroom and tried to call emergency services as shots rang out, telling stuff.co.nz he heard the gunman say an expletive about Muslims and 'we're going to kill you today'.

He said he heard people begging for their lives. 'They shot them until they died,' he added.

Syed Mazharuddin said a man wearing body armour and a helmet opened fire.

'Just around the entrance door there were elderly people sitting there praying and he just started shooting at them,' he told the New Zealand Herald.

Speaking of the moment he saw people jumping out of the windows, Tavis said: 'It was the only way to escape. I followed'

Speaking of the moment he saw people jumping out of the windows, Tavis said: 'It was the only way to escape. I followed' 

'There was a lady screaming and he shot her point blank in the face.'

Others told of scrambling through broken windows and playing dead among the carnage in a bid to survive.

Carl Pomare was driving past the mosque with an employee when he saw people running outside and falling to the ground.

They pulled over and tried to help the injured, including a five-year-old girl.

'We managed to get her into the car of one of the people who was helping and got her to the hospital, she was critical,' he told RNZ.

'The guy that my worker was nursing, he passed away in his arms sadly. It was surreal.'  

In the aftermath of the bloody attacks, three men and one woman were arrested, with police charging 'one man in his late 20s' with murder. He will face court on Saturday. 

Two others remain in police custody, with the fourth person arrested deemed not to have been involved in the attacks. 

Of the 49 fatalities, 41 were killed at the Al Noor Mosque and seven at the Linwood Avenue mosque. Three of the seven were slain on the streets. A 49th died in hospital.

A further 48 people were rushed to Christchurch Hospital with gunshot wounds, 20 of which were in a critical condition. 

Timeline of terror: How the Christchurch shootings unfolded

Friday March 15, 1.30pm local time (12.30am GMT): Gunman identifying himself as Brenton Tarrant live-streams mass shooting inside the Al Noor Mosque as Friday prayers are underway. The Bangladesh cricket team were on their way to the mosque at the time.

Another shooting takes place at a mosque in Linwood, 3.5 miles to the east. 

1.40pm: Police respond to reports of shots fired in central Christchurch. People are urged to stay indoors and report any suspicious behaviour. Shortly afterwards, all schools in the city are placed into lockdown.

2.10pm: Police confirm they are attending an 'evolving situation' involving an 'active shooter'

3.30pm: Two explosive devices attached to a car are found and disarmed by a bomb squad at Strickland Street, not far from the Al Noor Mosque.

4pm: One person confirmed to be in custody. New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush says there have been 'multiple fatalities' at two locations - both mosques. Mosques across New Zealand urged to shut their doors.

4.10pm: Prime minister Jacinda Ardern calls it 'one of New Zealand's darkest days'.

5.30pm: Mr Bush says three men and one woman are in custody. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison confirms one of those arrested is Australian.

7.30pm: Ms Ardern says 40 are dead and more than 20 are seriously injured but confirms the offender is in custody 

National security threat level is lifted from low to high.

7.45pm: Britomart train station in central Auckland is evacuated after bags are found unattended. The bags were deemed not suspicious.

9pm: Death toll rises to 49 and Police Commissioner Bush reveals a man in his late 20s has been charged with murder. 

Police are not looking for any named or identified suspects, he says, but adds that it would be 'wrong to assume that there is no-one else'.

11.50pm: Investigation extends 240 miles to the south where homes are evacuated around a 'location of interest' in Dunedin.   

New Zealand

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