The third Test match between New Zealand and Bangladesh scheduled to begin on Saturday has been cancelled after the Bangladesh cricket team had a narrow escape from a mass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch.
A New Zealand Cricket spokesperson confirmed the cancellation two hours after multiple people were killed in mass shootings at two mosques in the New Zealand city.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families and friends of those affected by the shocking situation in Christchurch,” announced Black Caps Twitter account. “A joint decision between NZC (New Zealand Cricket) and the @BCBtigers has been made to cancel the Hagley Oval Test. Again both teams and support staff groups are safe.”
Earlier, members of the Bangladesh cricket team described on social media their narrow escape from the mass shooting on New Zealand’s South Island.
Players and members of the team’s coaching staff were reportedly on their bus, approaching the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Hagley Park when the shooting broke out.
Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal tweeted “entire team got saved from active shooters. Frightening experience and please keep us in your prayers.”
Performance analyst Shrinivas Chandrasekeran, also on Twitter, said “Just escaped active shooters. Heartbeats pumping badly and panic everywhere.”
Player Mushfiqur Rahim posted “Alhamdulillah Allah save us today while shooting in Christchurch in the mosque. We (were) extremely lucky…never want to see this things happen again….pray for us.”
Mario Villavarayen, a strength and conditioning coach with the team, told New Zealand media the players did not see the shooter but heard shots. He said they were shaken but unhurt.
“I spoke to one of them shortly after,” Vllavarayen said. They didn’t see anything but heard gunshots. They were at the ground and just started running. The coaching staff were all at the hotel.”
New Zealand Cricket confirmed “that both teams and support staff groups are safe and accounted for”.
The Bangladesh team is reported to have left the bus and fled on foot to nearby Hagley Oval, where it was scheduled to play New Zealand in the Test match starting on Saturday.
Mohammad Islam, a journalist traveling with the Bangladesh team, earlier said he believed the players would leave New Zealand as soon as possible.
“I don’t they’re in a mental state to play cricket at all,” he told Fairfax Media. “I think they want to go back home as soon as possible. I’m speaking from experience, I’m speaking from what I’ve heard.”
Islam said he was contacted by one of the players as the shooting was taking place and he raced towards the scene.
“It was very traumatic there and people were running out from that mosque presumably and the Bangladesh players were coming out,” he said. “They are in terrible and severe mental (distress), they’re not feeling well.
“They 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.
“And seeing that, they didn’t get off the bus. About 10 minutes later they ran out of the bus and ran through Hagley Park and into the Hagley Oval.”
