The vile far-Right terrorist who slaughtered at least 49 people in New Zealand was inspired by Anders Breivik and called for the deaths of Angela Merkel and Sadiq Khan in his twisted 'manifesto'.

Australian man Brenton Tarrant, 28, published a rambling document he called 'The Great Replacement' on the morning before he opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch on New Zealand's south island.

At least 49 people are believed to have been killed in the attack, with more than 40 also in hospital suffering from gunshot wounds.

The chilling 73-page manifesto lists his twisted grievances, why he picked the mosques in Christchurch and how he was inspired by Norway mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 in 2011. He also cites Finsbury Park terrorist Darren Osborne in the document.

Among his muddled ramblings are rants about sex gangs in Rotherham and other towns in north England, and calls for the deaths of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish leader Recep Erdogan and London mayor Sadiq Khan.

Australian man Brenton Tarrant (pictured), 28, opened fire on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday and live streamed video of the attack through his Facebook account

Tarrant grew up in the New South Wales city of Grafton. He said he had British ancestors

Tarrant published an online manifesto detailing his plans to carry out a massacre hours before the attack. He called the 73-page document: 'The Great Replacement'

Tarrant wrote about London mayor Sadiq Khan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in his rambling document

Tarrant references previous terror attacks by Breivik, Dylan Roof in the US and Darren Osborne, who killed one in a van attack on a north London mosque.

Responding to the document, Nick Lowles, of UK anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate, said today: 'The bloody terrorist attack in Christchurch was carried out by a far-right activist who has published a manifesto explaining why he did it.

'The terrorist's manifesto uses the stock phrases of the alt-right to justify murder, talking of 'white genocide' and citing spurious statistics about birth rates to explain away the savagery they have inflicted on people simply engaged in practising their faith.

'In so many places around the world, this violent ideology destroys lives and rips loved ones apart.'

Tarrant also claimed he had been inspired to carry out the attacks as 'revenge' for a terror attack in Sweden that claimed a young girl, Ebba Akerlund, among its victims.

He described himself as an 'ordinary white man born in Australia to a working class, low-income family.'

'I am just a regular white man, from a regular family,' he wrote.

In the manifesto, Tarrant said he had 'little interest in education' and 'did not attend University as I had no great interest in anything offered in the Universities to study'.

He cited Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik and Finsbury Park terrorist Darren Osborne

Witnesses reported hearing 50 shots and police are responding to the incident at Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on the country's South Island

Witnesses inside the mosque reported seeing 15 people being shot, including children

London mayor Mr Khan tweeted about the attacks this morning, saying: 'When the flames of hatred are fanned, when people are demonised because of their faith, when we play on people's fears rather than addressing them, the consequences are deadly, as we have seen so sadly today.'

He said police patrols outside London mosques had been stepped up.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attacks as 'the latest example of rising racism and Islamophobia'.

Mr Erdogan said on Twitter: 'On behalf of my country, I offer my condolences to the Islamic world and the people of New Zealand, who have been targeted by this deplorable act.'

Germany's foreign minister said the attacks are a 'brutal crime' that touches everyone.

The shooter's weapons were marked with the names of other people who have carried out attacks

Witnesses reported hearing 50 shots from his weapons including a semi-automatic shotgun and a rifle at Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on the country's South Island (Pictured)

Tarrant said he initially planned to target a mosque in Dunedin, New Zealand but changed to the Al Noor and Masjid Mosques because they had more people

He also revealed he did not initially plan to carry out the attack in New Zealand at all.

'I only arrived in New Zealand to live temporarily while I planned and trained, but I soon found out that New Zealand was as target rich of an environment as anywhere else in the West,' Tarrant wrote.

'Secondly an attack in New Zealand would bring to attention the truth of the assault on our civilisation.'

The document uses the language of the far-Right, mixed with snatches of poems by Dylan Thomas and Rudyard Kipling.

A man who escaped the mosque during the shooting said he saw his wife lying dead on the footpath

Shooter grew up in small-town Australia Brenton Tarrant, 28, grew up in Grafton, a small town in northern New South Wales. Tarrant's father, who was a competitive athlete and completed 75 triathlons, died of cancer in 2010 aged just 49. His mother still lives in the area. Tarrant attended a local high school and then worked as a personal trainer at the local Big River Squash and Fitness Centre from 2010. A woman who knew Tarrant through the gym said he had always followed a strict dietary and exercise regime. 'He was very dedicated to his own training and to training others,' she said. 'He threw himself into his own personal training and then qualified as a trainer and trained others. He was very good.' 'When I say he was dedicated, he was dedicated more than most people would be. 'He was in the gym for long periods of time, lifting heaving weights. He pretty much transformed his body.' The woman said she had not spoken to him or heard him talk about his political or religious beliefs. 'From the conversations we had about life he didn't strike me as someone who had any interest in that or extremist views,' she said. 'But I know he's been travelling since he left Grafton. He has been travelling overseas, anywhere and everywhere. 'I would say it's something in the nature of his travels, something he's been around. 'I know he's been to lots of different countries trying to experience lots of different things in life and I would say something's happened in that time in his travels.' Advertisement

He also claimed to be inspired by Candace Owens, an outspoken backer of United States president Donald Trump.

'The person that has influenced me above all was Candace Owens, each time she spoke I was stunned by her insights.'

Witnesses reported hearing 50 shots from his weapons including a semi-automatic shotgun and a rifle at Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on the country's South Island.

The gunman live-streamed the mass shooting inside the Al Noor Mosque, which happened about 1.30pm (11.30am AEDT) as Friday prayers were underway.

A video seen by Daily Mail Australia shows the man firing multiple shots at dozens of people as they try to flee.

Mohammed Jama, the former president of the Muslim Association of Canterbury, said a man with a gun entered the Christchurch Mosque about 1.40pm local time on Friday.

A man inside the mosque at the time of the shooting said there 'bodies all over me'.

Witnesses inside the mosque reported seeing 15 people being shot, including children.

A man who escaped the mosque during the shooting said he saw his wife lying dead on the footpath.

'My wife is dead,' he said while wailing.

Witness Ahmad Al-Mahmoud described one of the shooters as being white, with blond hair and wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest.

'The guy was wearing like an army [suit]. He had a big gun and lots of bullets. He came through and started shooting everyone in the mosque, everywhere,' Ahmad Al-Mahmoud told Stuff.

'They had to smash the door - the glass from the window and the door - to get everyone out.

'We were trying to get everyone to run away from this area. I ran away from the car park, jumping through the back [yard] of houses.'

The rampage began when he got into his car wearing military-style body armour and a helmet saying 'let's get this party started'

After retrieving one of at least six assault rifles stored in his car, he walked up to the front door and began firing at the first person he saw

Pictured: Grieving members of the public after the shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand

Al-Mahmoud said the man was 'wearing a helmet' and must have fired 'hundreds' of gunshots.

Another witness said he ran behind the mosque to call the police after hearing the gun go off.

'I heard the sound of the gun. And the second one I heard, I ran. Lots of people were sitting on the floor. I ran behind the mosque, rang the police.

'I saw one gun on the floor. Lots of people died and injured.'