Christchurch terror attack inquest: Al Noor Mosque survivors describe rush to emergency exit door

Two survivors of the massacre at Christchurch's Al Noor Mosque have recalled the moment they took cover behind cars while a volley of gunshots was directed at them, an inquest has heard.

Mohammad Siddiqui and Ahmad Alayedy were in the main prayer room during the 15 March 2019 terror attack when the terrorist opened fire.

The two men told the coroners court they rushed to an emergency exit door when the shooting began.

Both say they attempted to unlock and open the door, but it would not move.

Siddiqui, Alaydey and another worshipper quickly decided to kick out the glass panel in the door and escape through the open frame.

While he was hiding, Siddiqui told the court he quickly called his wife and told her not to let their son come to the mosque because there had been a shooting.

Still on the phone, he said he felt a "strong blast" against his left arm and felt warm blood rush out of his jacket sleeve.

He screamed in pain and fell to the ground, realising he had been shot.

He attempted to stop the bleeding, with another man helping him tie his jacket around the wound. He started to feel dizzy when he saw the 5-6 centimetre hole.

Soon after, Siddiqui said an Armed Offenders Squad member approached him with his rifle drawn, telling him to put his hands up.

"For a fraction of a second, I wondered if he was the shooter," he said.

Siddiqui said he was hesitant to go with police at the time but was soon covered by two officers and taken to an ambulance for treatment.

Siddiqui said he was originally from India and had lived in New Zealand for more than 20 years.

"I never would have thought anything like this could happen in New Zealand."

Alayedy told the court he saw the terrorist from about 100 metres away while he was hiding behind a vehicle. The terrorist then looked directly at him, pointing the gun in his direction.

"He looked me in the eyes and then started shooting at me."

He ducked back down for safety and saw a bullet pass him, by mere centimetres.

When police officers told him to come out to the road, Alayedy said he saw deceased people, including his friend.

A couple of days later, he went to the hospital and was told his ribs had been cracked in the chaos of trying to get out of the mosque.

Both men said they had experience with using the door to leave the mosque, and Alayedy said he had opened it himself to let people in when they were late for prayer.

They both described twisting the door's latch both ways to try and have it open, but it would not budge.

A senior sergeant told the court the emergency exit door in the main prayer room was malfunctioning at the time of the attack.

Detective Senior Sergeant Damon Wells, who was a crime scene examiner at the mosque, said officers had planned on using the exit to remove victims.

But the door did not open.

The door had a magnetic lock but neither that nor the mechanical lock would release it, Wells said.

Survivor recounts massacre

A third survivor from Al Noor Mosque also read his evidence to the court on Friday.

Mohamed Adwy said it was not easy for him to recount the massacre in which he lost his closest friends.

Guilt weighed on him for not being able to help, and said it was often difficult to meet the eyes of his late friends' widows.

Adwy said he first thought the incident involved a person running through the mosque and police chasing after them.

Gunshots turned to rapid fire, and he realised he needed to get out.

Adwy said he could hear bullets hitting close to him as he ran from the mosque, climbing over a neighbouring fence to get out.

He then saw a man in an "army suit" in the neighbouring driveway and thought he must have stopped the shooter. He was then told he was the shooter.

Once the terrorist had left, the witness returned to the mosque, wanting to find his cell phone and call for help.

Adwy told the court he saw a number of deceased people, struggling to continue speaking as he described finding a friend severely injured.

The inquest earlier heard a number of survivors wanted to re-enter the mosque once police arrived to help but were not allowed to go back in.

Adwy was one of them.

He described feeling "helpless", knowing there were people dying inside who needed help.

"The least I could do was get in and get people outside," he said.

Police communications questioned

The communication between police staff has again been questioned during the inquest.

On Friday afternoon, another AOS member gave evidence to the court about his role on the day of the attack.

He arrived at Al Noor Mosque shortly after 2.15pm after diverting from Linwood Islamic Centre.

The AOS member said he and his team chose to go to Al Noor after false reports of the shooting having returned. After learning there was sufficient police staff at Linwood mosque, they continued to Al Noor.

On arrival, the AOS member confirmed he did not know who or how many police staff were already at Al Noor - and wanted to be of any assistance.

The amount of police staff there at the time was "fairly thin" and the scene was "chaotic".

Under cross-examination by counsel assisting the coroner David Bolt, the AOS member was asked if any decisions he made would have been different had there been more communication between team leaders.

The AOS member said his approach would have remained the same.

He also said injured worshippers were saved by first responders who decided to stay inside the mosque despite the risk of an improvised explosive device (IED) in the form of a suspicious backpack.

"To everyone's credit, no-one left," he said.

The backpack was later deemed safe, containing a laptop and other items, he said.

The inquest will examine the following 10 issues over six weeks:

• events of 15 March 2019 from the commencement of the attack until the terrorist's formal interview by police
• response times and entry processes of police and ambulance officers at each mosque
• triage and medical response at each mosque
• the steps that were taken to apprehend the offender
• the role of, and processes undertaken by, Christchurch Hospital in responding to the attack
• coordination between emergency services and first responders
• whether the terrorist had any direct assistance from any other person on 15 March 2019
• if raised by immediate family, and to the extent it can be ascertained, the final movements and time of death for each of the deceased
• the cause of death for each of the victims and whether any deaths could have been avoided
• whether Al Noor Mosque emergency exit door in the southeast corner of the main prayer room failed to function during the attack and, if so, why?

The inquest continues.