Christchurch terror attack: Why was mosque emergency exit locked? Coroner hears desperate escape stories

Key points:

• Coroner hears from Christchurch mosque attack survivors about escape from Al Noor mosque.
• All say the emergency exit was locked tight, would not open.
• Fleeing worshippers recall smashing through the glass panels to get away from the non-stop gunfire.
• Cop who examined scene also failed to get the door open using normal mechanisms.
• Tearful survivor describes “horrific scene” and dying friends.

Three men who were in the Al Noor mosque during the March 15 terror attack have spoken about trying to escape the relentless gunfire through an emergency door - only to find it locked.

The glass in the heavy wooden door had to be smashed so terrified worshippers could crawl out.

Fifty-one people were murdered and another 40 injured in the attack, carried out by Australian national Brenton Tarrant.

He has been jailed for life without the possibility of parole.

Coroner Brigitte Windley is now holding an inquest in Christchurch which is expected to span seven weeks.

The Al Noor mosque days after the 2019 terror attack. Photo / NZH

The Coroner is hearing from survivors, witnesses and emergency services personnel who responded to the attacks.

She said the objective was to provide answers to outstanding questions for grieving families about what happened to their loved ones - and to examine whether anything further can be done to prevent more tragedies.

Today, Ahmad Alayedy spoke about the terrifying day and how he survived.

He was in the main prayer room at the Al Noor mosque, sitting with his friends just in front of an emergency exit door.

“I heard some loud sounds, I thought it was an electric shock - I had never heard a gunshot before,” he said.

“Then I saw the bullets shot down from the foyer behind me into the prayer room. I could see the people being hit by the bullets and running away. The bullets were coming past me … about five metres away from me.

“I tried to open the emergency door but it didn’t open.”

Alayedy told the court he tried both of the two locks and pushed hard on the door but it would not budge.

Terror attack survivor Ahmad Alayedy. Photo / George Heard

Dozens of people - also desperately trying to escape the gunfire - were crushing up behind him as he tried to shatter the glass inside the door frame.

The pressure on him was such that he sustained broken ribs.

“I broke the glass and got outside, I ran behind the building where my car was parked, I hid behind the car,” he said.

“I could still hear the shooting and people yelling … then the shooter stopped. I stood up to see what was going on, I could see the man with the gun over the cars, he was standing near the gates.

“He was holding the gun up against his chest, it was a big gun. As soon as he saw me he started shooting at me and I ducked back down behind my car quickly. The bullets were coming just 2cm away from me.

“I know the gunman was trying to shoot me - he looked me in the eye and then started shooting at me.”

The emergency door at Al Noor mosque was locked when worshippers tried to escape during the terror attack. Photo / George Heard

A man hiding behind Alayedy - Mohammad Siddiqui - was shot in the arm.

“I hid for about 15 minutes, then I couldn’t hear any more shooting … a policeman saw me and told me to come out with my hands up,” he recalled.

“I began walking out … I could see [a friend] lying on the ground in front of the car, I knew he was dead.

“I could see another person lying on the ground. I could see they were also dead.

Alayedy saw a teenage boy lying badly injured beside his brother who had been killed.

He did not speak to anyone, saying he was in shock.

A friend picked him up nearby and he left the scene.

Alayedy told the inquest the emergency door was not usually hard to open.

He said during prayer time the door was usually locked as it would “swing open by itself”.

“If the locks were unlocked, it would open,” he explained.

“I tried to open the door but many people came behind me, they were pushing me, that’s how I broke my rib.

“The lock wouldn’t open. I tried the left and the right. I was pushing ... I had no choice but to break the glass.”

Mohammad Siddiqui ran to the same door and helped to break the glass.

“I heard a loud bang. My immediate thought was that it was a gun. I had heard a similar sound on television shows and movies,” he said.

“I jumped up and I rushed to the door and I tried to open it but it was locked I couldn’t open it.

“Two other men joined me and we started hitting and kicking the window of the door to try to get out.

“After about 10 seconds we managed to smash the window and all three of us climbed through.”

March 15 terror attack survivor Mohammad Siddiqui. Photo / George Heard

Siddiqui ran and hid behind a car and called his wife - desperate to stop his son coming into the mosque for prayers.

She said the son had already tried to go into Al Noor but heard the shooting and retreated.

“I felt a strong blast against my left arm,” said Siddiqui.

“I dropped my phone out of my hand and fell to the ground. I put the phone on speaker. I could hear my wife asking if I was ok.

“I was screaming in pain.”

Soon after an armed police officer came and told him to put his hands up.

Siddiqui thought for a moment he was the shooter but realised he was there to help.

“At first I was hesitant to go with him because we didn’t know where the shooter was. Another officer came and they covered me as we walked out.”

Siddiqui emigrated from India more than 20 years ago.

“I never would have thought anything like this could have happened in New Zealand.”

Siddiqui said “most of the time” over the summer the emergency door was open - mainly to provide fresh air into the mosque when it was hot.

But that day it was “a bit chilly” and it was closed.

“The moment I recognised the sound of the gunshot, I jumped immediately and I rushed to the exit door, I was the first one to try, then two others joined me.

“Then there was a big bang [as the glass broke] and everyone started to get out.”

Siddiqui told the court he did not pay much attention to the door’s mechanisms on the day - he just knew he had to get out of it to save his and other lives.

All he knew was it was locked and it took him and several others to smash through the glass.

Detective Senior Sergeant Damon Wells was one of the officers overseeing the scene examination.

Detective Senior Sergeant Damon Wells. Photo / George Heard

He said once the bodies had been removed from the mosque - including one victim lying right in the door frame - he tried to open the door.

He said no matter what he did with the lock mechanisms, including a magnetic hold device operated by a release button on the side, “it still would not open”.

“The only other option was that this door was locked or jammed but there was no evidence that was the case,” he said.

He suspected the magnetic locking system may not have been working, meaning it could not be opened.

However, he was not familiar with that specific locking system so could not be certain.

Another survivor thanked the Coroner for the chance to speak about his experience.

He said revisiting the mosque attack was traumatic but he wanted to make sure the children of those lost and other families had the answers they needed.

He said he was deeply impacted by the attack, where he lost many friends.

He felt guilty “every day”.

“For losing my friends and being unable to help,” he said.

“I feel ashamed in the presence of widows … sometimes I find it difficult to meet their eyes.”

A plaque at the Al-Noor Mosque to commemorate the 51 people who lost their lives in the terror attack. Photo / Logan Church

He said when the shooting started he went towards the door and got “jammed” against it.

He managed to get out and hid behind a shed in the mosque grounds as the shooting continued.

He jumped over a fence to a neighbouring property.

Soon after he saw a man in an “army suit” and thought it was someone from the armed forces coming to help.

He soon realised it was the killer.

He saw the gunman get in a car and run over a worshipper.

He went back to the mosque and saw “piles of bodies” and people badly injured and bleeding heavily.

“People were dying, I could hear what sounded like a death rattle in their breathing ... the scene was horrific,” he said.

“I could see my friend ... I tried to speak to him but he didn’t reply ... he was opening his eyes but not responding.”

He was handed a phone and he called 111.

“I asked the operator to send an ambulance, I told her lots of people were dying and the terrorist had left,” he said.

He went back outside and as emergency services arrived he could see more dead and injured including a man holding his young son.

He told a young police officer the shooter had left and help was needed inside because “lots of people are dying”.

The man begged the officer to send in help or let him go back in.

He said the officer told him to leave or he would arrest him.

He said the officer was young and appeared scared.

“The scene was chaotic,” the man said.

“I knew there were people inside the mosque who were dying or needed help, I felt helpless.”

An officer who attended with the armed offender’s squad on the day recalled walking through the mosque to clear it room-by-room so first responders could enter.

He saw “piles of bodies” - some who “appeared to have been shot attempting to flee”.

“I noticed hundreds of shell casings on the ground,” he said.

“I could see hands rising up ... people saying ‘sir, please help me’.

“One of my biggest fears was we would miss a victim because they were hiding, due to fear.”

The inquest continues.

Coroner Brigitte Windley. Photo / George Heard

The terror attack - what happened

On March 15, 2019, Australian national Brenton Harrison Tarrant killed 51 people and wounded 40 others when he stormed into two Christchurch mosques during Friday prayers and began shooting indiscriminately with high-powered firearms he had been stockpiling.

He filmed the entire massacre, streaming his deadly actions live via Facebook.

In March 2020, Tarrant pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and a terrorism charge.

He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

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Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz