By Miteb Al-Awwad

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

HAIL — Khaled Al-Shidoukhi, a Saudi who survived the massacre at the Christchurch mosque in New Zealand in which at least 50 Muslim worshippers have died, said he escaped death by jumping out a glass window of the mosque.

“I saw death face to face and wasted no time. I longed to live for myself, mother, wife and children,” he said.

Shidoukhi said he saw bullets flying and was terrified. , Most congregates were hit in their back, he added.

He said the mosque had four entrances, one leading to the toilets, the second to the prayer hall for women, the third to the mosque’s main prayer hall where people sit and the Qur’an and the fourth to the hall for congregational iftar during Ramadan.

Shidoukhi said he heard the explosions before he entered the mosque but he thought they were due to electricity shortage or loud speakers, which were being tested before the imam started his sermon.

He said he listened to the sermon for 10 minutes outside the mosque and four minutes inside. Then the sound of the gunshots became clear and closer.

“I then became certain that something serious was going on. I saw splashes of blood on the wall. I also heard screams of pain from dying congregates,” he said.

Shidoukhi said he was stunned for a moment. He said when he recovered, he became very scared and began to think of a way to escape.

“By that time I was on the left side of the mosque near the place where most of the deaths took place. I was sitting under a window. I immediately broke the glass and jumped out it into the plaza. Many people followed me,” he said.

The survivor said he went through the parked cars and jumped into a nearby house without the permission of its owners, who were watching the massacre.

Shidoukhi said a number of old people were not able to walk through because of the rain and mud.

“I took some of them on my back. They were mostly Arab Muslims and I took them to the nearby houses,” he said.

Shidoukhi said Abdul Mohsin Al-Harbe, the elderly Saudi man who died in the massacre, was sitting next to him and was intently listening to the sermon when bullets ripped his body.

He said the imam survived because he hid behind the dais. He came out only after the tragedy was over and the police took over the scene.

“The will of Allah and the dais saved the imam whom the killer did not see,” he added.

Shidoukhi is doing his PhD in physical education in a New Zealand institution.