at least 49 people have been killed and many injured after a mass shooting at you are watching a bbc news special. lam you are watching a bbc news special. i am victoria derbyshire. 49 people have been killed and many more seriously injured after a mass shooting in the new zealand city of crying. christchurch. it is the worst terrorist attack in the country's the5e these are people who i would history. i was hearing shooting describe as having extremist views after shooting up to shooting. it went on about six minutes or more. i that have absolutely no place in could hear screaming and crying. i saw some people were drop dead. these are people i would describe as having extremist views that have absolutely no place in new zealand

and in fact had no place in the world. so far one person, and male in his late 205, has been charged with murder. and should appear in a christchurch court tomorrow morning the suspect is being widely named as brenton tarrant, the suspect is being widely named as brenton tarra nt, who the suspect is being widely named as brenton tarrant, who police believe opened fire on wor5hipper5 at friday prayers. a number of devices had been diffused at the masks. —— mosques. we will bring you the latest from christchurch. at least 49 people have died

in a gun attack in new zealand — with dozens more seriously injured. the terrorist attack targetted two mosques in christchurch. witnesses say at least one gunman opened fire on worshippers at the mosques, as they gathered for friday prayers. one man, in his twenties, has been charged with murder — a further three people were arrested but police say at least one had no involvement in the shootings. these pictures, filmed from a passing car, show police detaining a person after trapping their vehicle. it's not clear who is shown. the main suspect is being widely named as brenton tarrant, a 28—year—old from australia. it's believed he is the person who livestreamed himself opening fire. he had also posted a so—called manifesto online expressing extreme, white—supremacist views. new zealand's prime ministerjacinda ardern has described

the events as an extreme and unprecedented act of violence — calling it ‘one of new zealand's darkest days‘. we are not a target because we are a safe harbour for those who hate. we are not a target because we are a safe harbourfor those who hate. we are not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, we are an enclave for extremism. we we re we are an enclave for extremism. we were chosen for the very fact we are none of these things, because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who hear our values, refuge for those who need it and those values i can assure you will not and cannot be shaken by this attack. we can go live now to christchurch and speak to mohan ibrahim and i understand you were in the al noor mosque.

tell us what you saw and what you had. thank you. i was in the mosque, on the right side, close to them inside. what happened is when i heard the sound of the gun shooter, heard the sound of the gun shooter, he was coming from the main door and he was coming from the main door and he was coming from the main door and he was on the video i have seen, he started shooting while he was out of the mosque. when he was inside there was a random shooting. there was a ladies entrance on the right side of the mosque inside. there was a door. i heard a shot going on and i thought there was maybe electrics outside it. it was continuously

happening and people were running everywhere. i manage myself with other people to come out of the mosque by the window on the right side in the ladies section entrance. i went to the back. i had to run 600, 700, 800 millimetres distance in the back of the mosque. i parked my car there. i had to run that way tojump and to get out of my car there. i had to run that way to jump and to get out of the my car there. i had to run that way tojump and to get out of the area. i had to tojump and to get out of the area. ihad tojump tojump and to get out of the area. i had tojump a big wall from the mosque area. it was like ten to 15 minutes of continuous shooting. so massive so loud. lots of people came out of the mosque on the backside area. they came on the other street

and laid down with us. i called to the police and the ambulance came. from the backside, there was some way you can go continuously to see the front side of the mosque. when i was going bad, there was one injured person with a shirt on his chest and he was like so badly injured. the police came and the ambulance came to rescue him and gave him some medicine. do you know approximately how many people were inside the mosque when the gunman entered? this is one of the biggest mosques in the area. it was friday and lots of people go there to pray. more than 200 people with the inside. one more thing i want to tell you, press

start at to o'clock. —— key—macro o'clock. still lots of people yet to come inside the mosque. mostly people come earlier to listen to the lecture given from the imam. if you can add or you can get your car inside the mosque and park nicely. i go here regularly. if you see the video made by the gunman you would see that lots of people were inside. how are you feeling about the fact that you managed to get out?” how are you feeling about the fact that you managed to get out? i feel like i am really lucky. i am really

speechless. i was so shaking. i could have been a victim at that time. i met a lot of people regularly in need mosque. these people are not anymore and that is really u na cce pta ble. i people are not anymore and that is really unacceptable. i cannot believe my eyes what i saw. i never expected it. i had been living here for five years. it is one of the safest countries. i am so scared now. are you? yes. where did you move to new zealand from?” now. are you? yes. where did you move to new zealand from? i am from bangladesh. right. i came move to new zealand from? i am from bangladesh. right. icame here move to new zealand from? i am from bangladesh. right. i came here as a student. ifinished my studies bangladesh. right. i came here as a student. i finished my studies and bangladesh. right. i came here as a student. ifinished my studies and i am ona student. ifinished my studies and i am on a work visa at the moment. the new zealand prime minister is saying that new zealand is a kind country, a loving country, welcoming immigrants. it is not here we are. how do you respond to that?”

immigrants. it is not here we are. how do you respond to that? i have a notification that the new zealand prime minister went to a conference. new zealand people are really nice. it is the first country i never imagined likei it is the first country i never imagined like i would see something like i saw today with my own eyes. we are very grateful for your time. thank you for talking to us. he was in the larger of the two asks, describing what he saw and what he heard. —— two mosques. the attacks took place in christchurch, the largest city on new zealand's south island. new zealand's police commissioner said 41 people died at the city's main mosque, al noor. a further seven people died in the suburb of linwood, while one person who was taken to hospital died of their injuries. at the deans avenue mosque, we now know that 41 people

have lost their lives. and, at the linwood mosque, seven have lost their lives. of the a0 people who are being treated at christchurch hospital, one has now passed. so the total number of people who have died in this horrendous event are 49. and our hearts go out to them and all of their family, all of theirfriends, all of their loved ones. and i want to assure everyone that we will do our best for them. and at the end i will talk about and give you the 0800 number so people can contact us and get more information about those who have died and some surrounding circumstances. i would like to also add that so far one person,

a male in his late 20s, has been charged with murder and should appear in a christchurch court tomorrow morning. three other people were apprehended. we believe one of those persons, who was armed, and was at the scene, may have had nothing to do with this incident and the two other people that have been apprehended, again in possession of firearms in the general environment, we are working through to understand what their involvement is. we have recovered a number of firearms from both of the scenes, linwood avenue and deans avenue. i would like to assure everyone around new zealand that every available police and emergency resource with our other government

agencies and defence force are doing everything they can to keep our communities safe. tamsin hatfield is from the uk, but is visiting new zealand with her boyfriend max. thank you for talking to last. i think you are near the linwood mask. tell us what you heard. we were just walking around doing some sightseeing. the kind of had a lot of police sirens. we saw a lot of ambulances and police cars driving around. it was then that we realised

something bad had happened. there was a lot of police presence. we we re was a lot of police presence. we were still at the traffic lights when we had a man say there had been a shooting. he pointed towards a lot of ambulances at the side of the road. that is when we started to see the chaos and fold. we stepped inside a shopping centre, went online and is to google to see what went on. we saw there had been a mass shooting and got our van and left the area. we had anybody in the city a few hours. we started to drive in any direction out of the city. turns out we were driving in the direction of linwood. we had no idea there was another shooting in that area until police cars went past us. they pulled right in front

of us and stopped and so we had to stop. we saw them surround a guy. he had guns and they got him on the bonnet of a car and arrested him right in front of us. we are showing oui’ right in front of us. we are showing our audience is one of your pictures. it is not clear from this image who has been arrested. how are you and your boyfriend reacting to what you are seeing? we were gobsmacked. christchurch is a quiet and small city. you do not expect something like this to happen. as a tourist when you are in a city like this, nice and safe, it was really scary. especially the fact that we went from walking around the city, it was buzzing. within 20 minutes it was like a ghost town. shops shut and they pulled the shutters down. lights were turned off and they stood behind counters. it was scary. the city was in lockdown soon afterwards. presumably it was

difficult to drive out and get out. this is what i mean. we had no idea where we were. we started to drive. every time we got to the end of an intersectional t—junction there were police cordon is. that is how we got stuck behind them when they arrested one of the guys. it was very chaotic. thank you for talking to us. our correspondent phil mercer is in sydney in australia. this man, brenton tarrant, is being named in media reports as the gunman but it has not been confirmed. according to the australian prime minister, we know an australian man has been detained in relation to their mass killings in christchurch. local media is naming, identifying the individual as brenton tarrant from new south wales. this man has published a rambling manifesto online, running to more than 70 pages. it is anti—immigration in nature. white supremacist thoughts

peppered throughout. this man is expected of being involved in the attack. at the moment we do know that three other people were also detained but investigators, victoria, say they are not sure at this time if there's other people are connected in any way with this attack in christchurch. this man appears to have live streamed his attack on facebook as he shot his victims. unbelievable. absolutely unbelievable. having watched some of the video i would not recommend it. it is absolutely horrific. it shows this man essentially live streaming on facebook with a gay pro camera mounted either on his chest or his head. in that video you see him picking off his victims one by one.

__ go picking off his victims one by one. —— go pro. investigators in new zealand are urging people not to watch it or share these images. those photographs, that video will be key to the investigation as new zealand police try to piece together firstly he was responsible and secondly why and what motivated them. we know a house in the city of dunedin in the south of the island is being examined by police to get asi is being examined by police to get as i try to piece together what motivated the people who carried out the terrible mass murder in new zealand. the new zealand prime minister has shared her thoughts. the mayor of christchurch has been speaking. here's what she had to say. i think it's really important that people remain absolutely calm, and feel free to talk to friends and family about the feelings that you will have.

it's natural. i never could believe that something like this would ever happen in the city of christchurch, but actually, i would never believe that this would ever happen in new zealand. and it looks as if something, the worst has happened, and we need to pull together and get through the situation. eyewitness carl pomare was driving past the mosque with his colleague when they saw people running towards them. he told our colleague david eades what he saw. i was driving just outside the mosque and i saw to my right lots of people running outside the mosque and in the same direction as me along the footpath. and they were running for their lives. i said to my work colleague, something is happening here. and the next second there was rapid—fire and it wasn't fireworks, it was a semiautomatic rifle. and these people were being knocked

down like ten pins, right opposite where i was driving. i saw the thing happen from behind. and they were falling to the ground. very surreal and it's like, ok, what do we do now? so i stopped my vehicle about a hundred metres up the road and we decided, ok, what are we going to do, we need to go back and help these guys so we parked up and set up a cordon with another car who was luckily another contractor so we managed to secure that end of the road. we tried to help people. my co—worker, he assisted the first person we saw lying on the footpath. there were lots of bodies lying around. there were no sirens, no police, no ambulance because it had just happened. for ten minutes there was no other outside assistance apart from the people who were just there, probably no more than six people, all civilians, helping these people lying on the ground, fighting for their lives.

it wasn't until about 15 minutes later the armed offenders came in. the police couldn't come in until the armed offenders came in and then the ambulance couldn't come in until they had secured the area. people were begging our help, to take them to the hospital, but we couldn't because the ambulances weren't allowed in. in the end, we made a call to get a father and his daughter who were both hit, the daughter was critical, we got her into a car and we managed to get her out pretty quickly with the father. we don't know whether they survived. the gentleman who my co—worker was supporting, he passed away in his arms, sadly, after about 30 minutes. it was a scene of carnage. we were there for a good part of the 15, 20 minutes, just us civilians helping these people as much as we could until more support came in. everything you have described there, carl, was outside the mosque, so these were people being gunned down in the streets in the outdoors?

that is correct. what i can add from that is that the gunman had already been into the mosque and he was coming out and following people who were running away from the mosque and shooting them as they were running away in the back. i saw them fall, hit the ground, as we were driving past. we heard more rounds, probably about ten rounds within another minute. as soon as we started going into the area we heard another ten rounds and we all had to duck down. a few seconds later, there was probably another four or five rounds. we didn't know where the gunman was. my colleague saw the gunman, he had come out onto the footpath and he saw him shooting into the car park area but he wasn't, thankfully, shooting towards the people who were already injured on the footpath. then he ducked away, we didn't see him again. it is an extraordinarily brave

thing to do, to stop in the midst of all that, i don't suppose that even crossed your mind at the time, more of a knee jerk reaction of what you knew you had to do. yes, we didn't see a gunman, we just saw people lying on the footpath injured and we decided we need to go back and help these guys. the first thing we did was set up a cordon and help the people inside the cordon. maybe six or seven of us helping these people as much as we could. it is absolutely unimaginable. we are hearing that the house of commons is going to hold a period of silence at 11 o'clock as a mark of respect for those who have lost their lives and those who have been badly injured. alongside me is margaret gilmore, a security and terror expert, and senior fellow at the defence think tank the royal united services institute. iam aware i am aware we have not talked about

the details of the victims because we do not have those details yet. inevitably we are speaking about one of the man who is in custody, he was appearing in court. not confirmed it is this australian, brenton tarrant, but certainly the so—called ma nifesto but certainly the so—called manifesto would suggest that he is a white supremacist. absolutely. my analysis would that the fact that he videoed this when he was in a car with music on in the background, explaining why he was doing it with a pile of rifles beside him. the video that shows the mosque and what happened there, was being streamed live on a specific facebook page in

his name. it is very difficult not to trace that back. all of this has now been removed from the internet. you can see what he was writing on his facebook page and his twitter page. a huge amount of detail would lead you and everyone else to believe this was him. from the horror you have described in the last ten minutes or so times ten. his views, his beliefs, absolutely outrageous. he describes himself as a working class to man, aged 28. of irish, scottish and english. but australian by nationality. he describes that he has been planning this for two years. he chose christchurch three months ago but it was a terrorist attack, anti—immigration, racist and religious against muslims. in this document online it is said he was deciding to take a stand to ensure a future for my people, quote and quote. you do not really want to

repeat these things. he said it was retaliation for the death of a swedish child in a terrorist attack that really it is from a man mentioning all sorts of people from michaeljackson to donald trump and also the man killing people in norway. he worships other white supremacist. he did not belong to a group that had been in contact with groups. this was him talking. i think the other thing about the way that he has callously thought about these things and written about them, in democracies this is an out. we do not like this type of thing better

is allowed. the second factor is the way you look at how he appears from the eyewitness reports and then from this awful video that has now been taken down of the premeditated way he went in with a gun, he used his rifle, when it was empty he either put more bullets and walked back to the car and went back into the mosque again and showed no mercy for anybody trying to get away. just horrific. the footage is out there online and there are many people online and there are many people online and there are many people online and on social media who are saying, do not share this. yes. facebook and twitter had taken it down. the police are saying this is dire and not the sort of thing that any victim or any of the families of people who are not even in the early stages of grieving at this point just finding out. they have not been identified. this is ongoing and not the sort of thing you would want to see. do not look at it. there are people working absolutely nonstop, certainly in the uk and the states

to try and pull anything that is around they're to try and pull anything that is around they‘ re down. to try and pull anything that is around they're down. facebook and twitter had got rid of any account of him, so you will not find his name if you start to look it up now. people are working to bring it down. once it is out, it is out. we will talk more in a moment. for the moment, thank you. a senior member of the mosque was in the building at the time of the shooting. he has been speaking to a journalist near the scene outside the police cordon. i was inside the mosque. i was in the side room and the imam had started the sermon. so, everybody was settled, you know. it was very peaceful, calm and quiet, as usually it is when the imam starts talking, everybody is quite and it is a pin drop silence. but then, suddenly, the shooting started. it started on the main room because the shooter must have come

through the hallway. i was in the side room so i did not see who was shooting. but i saw that some people were running out through my room where i was in and also i saw some people had blood on their body and some people were limping. at that moment, you know, i realised it was really serious. a couple of people that said to me, you are in wheelchair, you've got to get out now. i tried to get out and i pushed myself at the back where my car was parked and i was behind the car. and then, from there, i was hearing shooting after shooting after shooting. it went on about six minute or more. i could hear screaming and crying. i saw some people who were,

you know, drop dead. and some people were running away. i was on the wheelchair. i could not go anywhere and i didn't want to because i was afraid of what was going to happen to the ladies come to my wife, so i stayed there. —— what was giong to happen to my wife. but luckily, the shooter, he did his massacre inside the mosque and he did not come in the back otherwise he could have got me. a woman who was driving near the mosque at the time of the shooting says she saw a number of people were shot, and stopped to help. and i heard and saw what i thought were firecrackers and i saw young fellas running down the street. and all of a sudden, it got quite violent. i thought, that's not firecrackers. and they started falling. and one felljust to the left of my car and one fell to the right and...

for a few minutes i stopped the car in shock and i leaned either way, i'm not sure, across the seats to try and avoid getting shot. and apparently a bullet went sailing over my car and struck the one in the back. and he's all right, the guy, he was very good. and we pulled up and i opened up my doors, or my driver's door, and got out and the guy in the black commodore, whatever it was, came up and said, are you all right? isaid, yeah, i'm good, i haven't been shot. and the poor hugger lying on the verge had been shot in the back. i opened my passenger's door and my driver's door and we pulled him round behind and then opened up the back as well to give us some protection. and he had a first aid kit and he crouched and ran all the way back to get it. and he lifted up his shirt and he dressed it and i put the pressure on. and then a nice muslim guy came and gave me some help as well because you have to put quite a bit

of pressure on and my poor old hands were shaking that hard, i was scared i wouldn't be able to do a good job. and the worst thing was, we could hear the ambulances but they couldn't get to us. and then a nice guy on the other side, who was on the other side, he put three people in his car and took them to hospital. and the guy on the street, he was trying to ring his wife, that i heard, and the other guy could see, he was in bad shape but i couldn't get to him because that was where directly the gunfire was coming from. and... and the guy i was compressing, he was trying to ring his wife. i managed to get it and i answered the phone and i said to her, your husband's been shot outside the mosque. don't come here to deans ave, you won't get through, but please go to the hospital and wait for him. then i kept talking to him and telling him that she was at the hospital waiting and he wasn't to give up

and we kept pressure on and did the best we could for him until we got him some help. and in the meantime, the poor guy across the road passed away. and my car's still down there. that's so terrible. i never, never thought... i'm 66 and i never thought in my life i would live to see something like this, not in new zealand. the australian prime minister, scott morrison, has confirmed that one of the four people arrested in the christchurch attack is an australian citizen. at a news conference, he began by offering his support to victims of the shooting.

wea k weak grieve, shocked, appalled and outraged. that has stolen their lives in a vicious, murderous attack, that has claimed so many new zealanders. this attack reminds us of the evil that is ever present and would seek to strike out at any time. i particularly wa nt strike out at any time. i particularly want to convey my heartfelt sympathies, not only to all of the new zealand people, as i

am sure all australians willjoin me in doing, but i particularly want to express my sincere prayers and thoughts for those new zealanders are indeed australians of islamic faith today he had been the subject of this vicious and callous right—wing extremist attack. i am not going to go through the details of this today because that is properly done by the new zealand authorities. the new zealand authorities. the new zealand authorities are conducting the investigation. i have concluded a briefing with our own authorities here and agencies. it is for new zealand who are leading obviously be investigation to be able to confirm details and any individuals and the number of casualties and i will leave that to make those announcements. i have already been in contact with the prime minister, who is caught up with many briefings today. she described it as the

darkest day and i agree with her, i agree absolutely with her. australian authorities have already put into place all the necessary responses and precautions are necessary here in australia. our agencies are working closely with new zealand authorities and have prepared other capacities to be stood up to support new zealand as and when requested. i can confirm that the individual, he was taken into custody, i have been advised, is an australian born citizen and obviously that element of the investigation, australian authorities are involved in, and i will be proceeding with that investigation which is already being stood up, involving all the relevant agencies. let's speak to kim baker wilson, who's a reporter at television new zealand. i think you are near one of the hospitals where many are being treated so what can you tell us about the nature of the injuries of

the patients? what is clear is it is going to be a very long night for the surgeons and staff at christchurch hospital. the latest numbers we have had, some 48 people with gunshot wounds are being treated at the hospital and we are told that it ranges from people with minorto told that it ranges from people with minor to serious and critical injuries and also the young, children through to adults as well. i2 children through to adults as well. 12 operating theatres have been in use at the same time but we know it was wider than christchurch hospitals. medical centres were flooded with the injured. some 200 family members have descended on the hospital, many desperate and anxious for information and the hospital have said to them to stay home so they can take care of their loved ones. there have been many helicopters in the air, we can

assume they are a medical helicopter is getting ready to take people to other hospitals. we know that other hospitals in other cities have opened up their doors tonight to help christchurch hospital and treat the seriously injured. it is unimaginable for people watching, and how those relatives are desperate for some kind of news from the hospital. how are people responding? christchurch, as you might know, is a city that has endured deadly tragedy before with the earthquakes some years ago. we we re the earthquakes some years ago. we were remarking that we are standing in the same spot where the civil defence sector was for those earthquakes but this is such a different tragedy, so outlandish, one that people thought would never happen in this part of the world.

new zealand has very strict gun laws so new zealand has very strict gun laws so what many of us here, it is something we never thought would happen. there is a shock and anger and terror that something like this could happen in new zealand and you have been hearing a lot of stories are people running out of the mosque, for their lives, and u nfortu nately mosque, for their lives, and unfortunately and horrifically, many did not escape. the new zealand police commissioner has said that those arrested were not known previously to them, they were not on any terrorist watch lists. no, they weren't and there will be questions for our domestic spy agency in the days and weeks to come. a man has now been charged with murder and he is due in the christchurch district court tomorrow morning but both the police and the prime minister, jacinda ardern, are now formally classing this as a terrorist

incident. thank you for talking to us, we appreciate your time. let's speak now to professor paul spoonley, pro—vice chancellor at massey university, and author of politics of nostalgia: racism and the extreme right in new zealand. thank you forjoining to us, professor. firstly, how do you react to what has happened in your country? it is an absolute tragedy. the scale of it, and the fact that it has come out of literally nowhere, is just a shock to everyone andi nowhere, is just a shock to everyone and i think it will take a long time for us to digest and react and think about what has happened. you said it has come out of nowhere. can you tell our audience about the scale of the far right in your part of the world ? the far right in your part of the world? i began studying it in the 19805, i world? i began studying it in the 1980s, i had returned from the uk where i did some research on the national front and the british national front and the british national party and i knew there were equivalents here, very much imports.

and associated with neo—nazis but most new zealanders, including the authorities, were not at all convinced and it took me quite a bit of time to say that yes, they are here. i think the thing that has changed has been the arrival of social media and online opportunities for these groups to interact internationally. the person who has been charged, if you look at his facebook page, you can see the influence of the international connections or influences he has got. and of course, what we have seen got. and of course, what we have seen is the right of islamophobia also when i began it was very much anti—semitic arguments and ideologies but it has morphed into isa ideologies but it has morphed into is a phobia in the last two decades and we are seeing in new zealand what the rest of the world has been experiencing for some time. and has that coincided with an increase in the number of immigrants to new zealand in the last decade or two?

since 2013, new zealand has had the highest inward flow of migrant in any country in the oecd and we have been adding the equivalent of about 1.6% of our population through net migration each year. but muslims have not made up a significant part of that migration. the muslim community here is a relatively small and it is incredibly diverse, coming from all around asia, the pacific and the middle east. it is a very peaceful community, it has a very low profile here. yes, the diversity of new zealand has changed markedly in the last seven to eight years, but not necessarily the religious diversity to the extent that we have seen a diversity to the extent that we have seen a large increase in muslims. it isa seen a large increase in muslims. it is a little perplexing that muslims we re is a little perplexing that muslims were chosen as the target here, u nless were chosen as the target here, unless you put that in the context

ofan unless you put that in the context of an international conspiracy theory about the rise of islam and theory about the rise of islam and the power of muslims. and how do you react to the fact that the individuals who have been arrested we re individuals who have been arrested were not known to the police, not on any watchlist? i am perplexed by that, and the commissioner of police, mike bush, has acknowledged tonight that they were not on the watchlist. he is an australian, the person charged with murder, and he was not on the australian security services or police watchlist either, andi services or police watchlist either, and i think that has got to raise some fundamental questions about the monitoring of these groups. ijust wonder whether or not we have focused a little too much attention on left—wing extremism and perhaps muslim terrorism in particular, and forgotten about domestic and white supremacist and nationalist groups because this is definitely where

this guy has come from. so more resources should be put in those areas, you believe? i do, and i think that is a lesson we need to learn internationally. when you look around the world, and some of the most significant events have been through the acts of our own terrorists, in a sense, our left and right extremes, you are perpetrated terrorism in our countries. it is a lesson for all of us. thank you for talking to. in a moment we can speak toa talking to. in a moment we can speak to a representative of the muslim association of tara naki, to a representative of the muslim association of taranaki, based in new plymouth in new zealand but first a reminder of the developing news from christchurch. we know that at least 49 people have died in the gun attack — with dozens more seriously injured. authorities have called it a terrorist attack.

the main suspect is being widely named as brenton tarrant, a 28—year—old from australia. it's believed he is the person who livestreamed himself opening fire at a mosque in christchurch. he had also posted a manifesto online expressing extreme, white—supremacist views. simon jones has been following the events. unprecedented is how police are describing this attack. scores dead as two mosques are targeted during friday prayers. people ran for their lives but many did not make it. i was hearing shooting after shooting after shooting. it went on about six minutes or more. i could hear screaming and crying. people outside were also caught up in the chaos. i stopped the car in shock. i leaned either way, i think across the seats to try and avoid getting shot. a bullet went 5ailing over my car and struck someone

in the one in the back. it is believed the gunman filmed his attack. explosives were found attached to vehicles. it is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack. from what we know, it does appear to have been well planned. all mosques in the country have been told to close their doors. schools were put into lockdown. a man has been charged with murder. part of our investigation will be to look back at every possibility to ensure that we and law enforcement and security did not miss any opportunities to prevent this horrendous event. the australian prime minister said one of those arrested is from his country. i can confirm that the individual who was taken into custody, i have been advised is an australian born citizen. and obviously that element of the investigation, au5tralian authorities

are involved in. a community and a country now trying to comprehend one of its darkest days. simon jones, bbc news. saba afzal is from the muslim association of taranaki, based in new plymouth, new zealand. thank you for talking to us. how do you respond to what has happened? thank you, to be honest, we are all ina bit thank you, to be honest, we are all in a bit of thank you, to be honest, we are all ina bit ofa thank you, to be honest, we are all in a bit of a state of disbelief. we could never have imagined something like this happening in new zealand. it isa like this happening in new zealand. it is a beautiful, peaceful country, diverse and inclusive. literally, eve ryo ne diverse and inclusive. literally, everyone i have spoken to cannot even fathom that something like this could have happened here. what is your view about the fact that one of the men arrested is said to be a

white supremacist? well, it beggars the question why these people were not on a watchlist. i think it is quite obvious there is a disproportionate amount of attention paid to muslims and the monitoring of muslim activities and extremism on that side, where we now know and perhaps have known for a while that right—wing extremism is incredibly dangerous, and has caused atrocities across the globe. yes, it is concerning for us as well and we are obviously all wanting answers, to be honest. we have just talked to an expert in this area at a university in auckland who said that he certainly believed that more resources should go into investigating far right terrorists. i wonder what you're feeling is

about your country trying to come together now. we have had a lot of support from people all over new zealand and all over our community. we are in a small regional town and it is heart—warming and it is u nfortu nate it is heart—warming and it is unfortunate that it is under these circumstances but it is heart—warming that we have had people from the maori community, the archbishop of our region who has reached out to us. we have had support from people from all walks of life and that is really heart—warming. we had offers of candle vigils and solidarity marches and it is really heart—warming. i know new zealand is a beautiful country and people will definitely stand behind this cause and support the of new zealand. do you know any of the people who were caught up in either of the mosques? we have recently come to know that a family friend of ours did not make it out

alive. linda was at the mosque and she did not make it out and that is devastating for us. we have friends of friends who were shot, others who managed to run and jump over fences. it was an horrific situation. managed to run and jump over fences. it was an horrific 5ituation.|j managed to run and jump over fences. it was an horrific situation. i am so soi’i’y it was an horrific situation. i am so sorry to hear that. thank you very much for talking to us. saba afzel. sir bob parker is the former mayor of christchurch. he helped to rebuild the city following the 2011 earthquake. the attack happened in his neighbourhood and he has been out on the streets during the past couple of hours helping victims. thank you for talking to us. tell us about the people you have been talking to and trying to help. hello, victoria. it's an exaggeration to say i have been helping people, i have been out in the city and i moved around and i

wa nted the city and i moved around and i wanted to see what i could see. but there are a lot of great people out there are a lot of great people out there working with our medical services and the police and a lot of support services out there and the families who are affected themselves, they are out there. but what do you do in a situation like this? we can all give compassion, but we cannot believe that this terrible thing has happened in our city. it is deeply shocking, it is not us. i guess everybody says that when it happens but it happened here. just a distant, peaceful little country facing up to something like this, it is a surreal. that is presumably the question, why did this happen? how did this happen? i guess if we could a nswer did this happen? i guess if we could answer that we might also have been able to intervene so it wouldn't have happened. why did it happen? in society today? connected at light

speed around the world, many people infected by ideas that come from the darkest places in peoples imaginations and they find fertile ground anyway now. that has happened here. hatred has come forward and it has destroyed a lot of beautiful peoples lives. it has cracked a community to pieces. it is a terrible thing for us to have to deal with but we will deal with it. how do you overcome that hatred?” think there is no rocket science in this at the end of the day, it is just people to people, it is what we now do for each other. it's what you have been hearing about, people around the country and around the world mobilising. we cannot let this kind infection destroy our communities, it is not what we are about, it is not what we want, and we will have to stand together and do what the heck we can for each other at this time and not give in,

as everyone says. i cannot think of anything new to say, this isjust the terror of the world we live in now and it has come here, who would have thought, but it did. and you have thought, but it did. and you have been shown solidarity from people around the world, as indeed you were after the earthquake in 2011. it is a terrible thing, victoria, that it takes this kind of tragedy and, like the earthquakes, to bring out the great strength that is inside most people. one thing i learnt was that in tragedy, and i witnessed a few overseas now, what it brings out in people is something that rarely ever seems to get tapped into and that is a genuine desire to help each other, a real feeling, into and that is a genuine desire to help each other, a realfeeling, a rebalancing of the values of life. and i hope and in fact i know that this community and this country will pull together around each other and support these people. those who have survived... the death toll is

unbelievable, unbelievable, i could not believe when i heard it was several people but to hear the numbers now that have been taken by this insanity... a mortal blow for so this insanity... a mortal blow for so many good people. we know at least 49 people have lost their lives and you would expect that to rise. i think we are probably fairly close to the number, certainly the sources i have telling me that. but of course we have people severely in the hospital, which is literally 150 metres from where i live. there has been a crowd of family and friends outside of that place trying to understand what has happened and inside, over a dozen operating theatres dealing with gunshot wounds. a small city in the south pacific, it is something we don't normally ever expect here. they don't carry guns here. it has shaken

us, really deeply, but we have to go forward from this and we have to ta ke forward from this and we have to take our community forward and make sure it goes forward together. we we re sure it goes forward together. we were talking about the support and love and solidarity you are being shown from around the world, we have had this method from the queen which i will read if i made. she had said she is deeply saddened by the appalling events in christchurch today, adding that prince philip and her sent their condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives. she is a fantastic woman. her family have a lwa ys fantastic woman. her family have always been here for new zealand when things have been bad. i can remember it was the same in the earthquakes, the same all the time and we appreciate that. the greatest thing people can probably give, although i don't think money is not theissue, although i don't think money is not the issue, but funds will be started, but it is just a realisation of that compassion and

discovering, rediscovering what really makes us human beings, not animals, not savages, not brutal killing people but decent people who have their differences but who get on with life and that is what we wa nt to on with life and that is what we want to be and we have to be reminded of that and that message which is strong and good for us. thank you for talking to us, we appreciate it sir bob parker, the former mayor of christchurch. margaret gilmore is still alongside me. what will to be doing now? the first thing is to ensure that there was nobody else involved, that it has not been linked to any other attacks. certainly, from what the man said, the person we assume was the gunman said in his video, was that he was acting alone. there were obviously a couple of people helping him. the first thing you do if you look at where he stayed, who he was

talking to, did anybody else know in advance because he was in touch with some groups even though he was not a member of extreme right—wing groups, he claims. secondly, he has been travelling. at some point he has claimed that these attacks were in revenge for attacks in europe and one in particular in sweden. i think that the intelligence agencies in both new zealand and australia have now said they did not happen on a watch list but lets see if it emerges if he was on some other kind of watchlist in other countries. in the uk, in the usa and right across europe, people will be looking out to see if this guy has come across on their radar. looking at his internet activity, looking who he lived with and stayed with and talk to and associated with, then they will be tracing the guns. where did the weapons come from? it's very

difficult. how did he get these weapons into new zealand? did he get them in new zealand? that is difficult, very strict gun laws in new zealand. tracing the weapons, tracing the finance, he claims he financed what he was doing through bitcoin and things like that. they will be expert in finance helping. and there will be people across the world plugging into the new zealand authorities and saying, what can we do, give us one part of this. you deal with the aftermath, have you got enough people on the intelligence side, can we send people to help? all of that will be going on. at the same time there is a lwa ys going on. at the same time there is always the fear, i'm afraid come of co pycats. always the fear, i'm afraid come of copycats. aren't there other people who have the capability and there will and may become appalling to say it, inspired and encouraged by what has happened today to carry out a similar extreme right—wing attack. people in countries like the uk and australia, certainly in new zealand,

they will be looking at lists and looking at what has been written on the internet and at website where they may be saying things that you andi they may be saying things that you and i would not agree with, looking to see if people are posting, as this guy did, pictures of weapons to see if there are others they need to be looking at. i think we will see more activity in that area. thank you very much, margaret. we will ta ke you very much, margaret. we will take goodbye to viewers on bbc two and bbc world news. more on this developing story continued on the bbc news channel and on bbc world news in the next hour. now it's time for a look at the weather. thank you, we have pretty breezy conditions across the uk but things will ramp up over the weekend, very windy and unsettled weather on

saturday. still some cloud and rain affecting wales, southern areas of england, it will stay quite wet in the far south—west. elsewhere we have sunny spells and showers moving in blustery conditions particularly to the east of the pennines, maximum temperatures in northern areas seven or8 temperatures in northern areas seven or 8 degrees, 13 or 14 in the south. tonight we will see more rain spreading in from the south—west, pushing northward and that is linked to this weather front and this developing area of low pressure as we go into saturday morning. as it bumps into cold that we will see some snow, significant snowfall over the tops of the scottish mountains and even down to lower levels. cloudy and wet and windy for many on saturday. by sunday it should be brighter with one or two showers but feeling colder. goodbye for now.