The Bangladesh cricket team “just escaped” after shots were fired at a Christchurch mosque near to where the team was due to play the final Test match of their tour of New Zealand.

Police confirmed there were multiple fatalities after shootings at two mosques in the city on Friday.

The third Test at Hagley Oval, which was scheduled to start at 9am on Saturday, has been cancelled.

All team members and staff caught up in the incident were able to return safely to their hotel, Bangladesh Cricket confirmed, after taking refuge in the immediate aftermath in the dressing rooms at Hagley Oval.

Australia’s Under-19s women side, who are also on tour in New Zealand and were staying in the same hotel as the Bangladesh team, were also confirmed safe.

Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s highest run scorer, said he and his teammates were able to flee the scene. He described the experience as “frightening”.

Entire team got saved from active shooters!!! Frightening experience and please keep us in your prayers #christchurchMosqueAttack — Tamim Iqbal Khan (@TamimOfficial28) March 15, 2019

ESPN’s Bangladesh correspondent Mohammad Isam, who has been travelling with the team, told the NZ Herald the team had just arrived at the mosque for Friday prayers when they heard shots fired.

“They [the Bangladesh players] were just outside the mosque about to get off from the bus and go into the mosque when they heard shooting and a lot of people running out and they saw someone wounded in front of them.”

Bangladesh team escaped from a mosque near Hagley Park where there were active shooters. They ran back through Hagley Park back to the Oval. pic.twitter.com/VtkqSrljjV — Mohammad Isam (@Isam84) March 15, 2019

Isam wrote later that he had been called by Iqbal during the shooting. “He’s calling me for help. ‘There’s shooting here, please save us.’ I first think that he is playing a prank but he hangs up and calls again - this time, his voice starts to crack. He says that I should call the police as there’s a shooting going on inside the mosque where they are about to enter.

Bangladesh team manager Khaled Mashud told reporters: “This was a kind of accident that we would never expect nor want in any part of the world. Only two of the players [Liton Das and Nayeem Hasan] had stayed back in the hotel, and rest of the squad had gone there. We were very close to the mosque, and we could see from the bus. We must have been about 50 yards from the mosque.

“I would say we were really lucky. Had we arrived even three or four minutes earlier, we probably would have been inside the mosque. We are very thankful that we weren’t caught in the crossfire, but what we saw was straight out of a movie scene. We could see bloodstained people staggering out of the mosque.”

The team’s high performance analyst, Shrinivas Chandrasekaran, said the team narrowly escaped the shooting, while Mushfiqur Rahim, the captain of the team, said they were “extremely lucky” to have survived.

Just escaped active shooters!!! Heartbeats pumping badly and panic everywhere!! #ChristchurchMosque — Shrinivas (@chinu1501) March 15, 2019

Alhamdulillah Allah save us today while shooting in Christchurch in the mosque...we r extremely lucky...never want to see this things happen again....pray for us — Mushfiqur Rahim (@mushfiqur15) March 15, 2019

New Zealand Cricket sent its “heartfelt condolences” to the families and friends of those affected by the attack in Christchurch and confirmed both sets of players and support staff were safe.

Bangladesh have been touring New Zealand since last month. They lost the one-day international series 3-0 and have also lost the three-Test series after New Zealand claimed victory in the opening two matches.

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