'It was a very hard 17 minutes': Inside the Al Noor mosque attack

He chose New Zealand over his war-torn homeland because he thought it would be the safest place in the world for his young family.

But just seven months later Syrian refugee Hisharm Alzarzour was lying in a mosque under a dead body as a gunman opened fire on worshippers including his best friend.

Alzarzour, 33, spoke to the Weekend Herald from his hospital bed on Friday.

He was shot three times in the Al Noor mosque attack on March 15 and was crushed under the weight of several bodies, fearing any moment the gunman would end his life and take him away forever from his wife and three children.

"Until now, I don't really believe it happened," he said.

"I was lucky that day… but my friend, he passed away.

"I grabbed his hand, I talked to him - I don't remember what I said to him… I was crying.

"I thought he had taken his last breath… I couldn't look any more… I remember that feeling."

Alzarzour had been picked up for prayer that day by his good friend Khaled Mustafa.

He didn't have a car so Mustafa always picked up him on his way to the mosque.

The men were both born and raised in Syria near the captial Damascus.

Hisharm Alzarzour was shot and survived. But his friend Khaled Mustafa was not so lucky. Photo / Dean Purcell

They did not meet until after they had both fled to Jordan as refugees.

The men became fast friends - as did their wives.

They spoke daily and when they were asked if they wanted to move to New Zealand, both families jumped at the chance.

Alzarzour and his wife Susan packed up their daughters Rena, now 8, Roua 1, and son Zead, 7 and made the journey to Christchurch.

Mustafa, his teenage boys Hamza and Zaid and wife Salwa did the same.

A third family joined them and settled in Timaru.

Two months before the terror attack Alzarzour - who holds a Masters Degree in geography and was a teacher in Syria - got his first Kiwi job working as a builder and plasterer.

Mustafa worked as a farrier.

"Every day I called Khaled for half an hour and talked to him about what I was doing," Alzarzour said.

"Every two or three days he came to my house and we drank coffee, we sat together and talked.

"Every Friday he would come and take me to the mosque, I went with him and his family…. Every Friday."

Zaid Mustafa and his mother Salwa, during their emotional media conference in Christchurch. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The men thought their lives were made - their wives and children were happy, they had jobs, happiness, security and finally they felt safe and settled.

Then, the attacks happened.

"You hear this type of thing happening in Europe and America - but you never hear of this in New Zealand," said Alzarzour.

"New Zealand was the safest place in the world…"

Mustafa and Alzarzour chatted on the phone on the morning of the attack and organised what time they would go to Al Noor.

"We went together to the mosque, we walked in the front door together and we sat together to pray - there was only 1m between us.

"We prayed, and then we sat to listen to the Imam.

"After about five minutes we heard the first three or four bullets.

"We did not know what it was, we thought it was someone playing a game - or maybe something was wrong with the electricity, we just didn't realise it was shooting."

Alzarzour recalls the moment he realised what was happening in his mosque - a place he had always felt, and should have always been safe.

"We looked to the front door and we could see bullets coming everywhere," he said, his eyes darkening at the recollection.

"He was shooting the walls, the roof, then the people started to run... "

Alzarzour tried to run but he tripped and fell, then was crushed by people desperately trying to escape the relentless gunfire.

"A big man fell on top of me, another to my left and one to my right," he said.

"The shooter was just shooting all of the people."

Hisharm Alzarzour was shot and survived. But his friend Khaled Mustafa was not so lucky. Photo / Dean Purcell

Alzarzour was struck in both legs, and was terrified that the gunman would realise he was not dead under the bodies of his brothers, and finish him off.

"Every two or three minutes the shooter would shoot another shot at us… I thought at any second the bullet would come at my head… In my mind I was just thinking of my wife, my children."

Alzarzour estimates he lay under the bodies, bleeding and scared, for about 17 minutes.

"That 17 minutes was unbelieveable… I don't know how I could survive," he said.

"Anyone who made a sound, anyone who made a breath - (the shooter) would finish them.

"I was terrified the shooter would come to me… Every few minutes he would stop for a short time, he must have been changing his gun, then he would start again.

"Every time I thought he was finished, then he would come back again.

"The last time he stopped shooting I decided I would not move until I heard people talk or cry out or people from outside come into the mosque.

"I thought 'I will not move'."

The crying soon began.

Shouts of "are you ok" and "please help me" rang out through the once peaceful mosque which was now the scene of New Zealand's worst mass shooting.

"I realised he was finally finished and he had run away," Alzarzour said of the shooter.

"I tried to move the body on top of me but it was too heavy.

"I tried to move my whole body to make him fall."

He finally managed to get free and then saw his friend Mustafa.

"When I opened my eyes I saw my Khaled, I saw he was shot.

"I started crying and trying to help him, I held his hand… I said 'you're going to be ok'.

"Khaled was smiling - as he always smiled - and I thought he had taken his last breath.

"I realised I could not help him… then I looked for other people that needed help.

"I tried hard to help them, some were calling out 'please help me'."

Police then stormed the mosque and ushered Alzarzour and others who could walk out of the horrific scene.

He went outside and began to search for Mustafa's sons Hamza and Zaid.

They were not sitting with their father when the gunman opened fire.

A friend told Alzarzour that one of the Mustafa boys had been killed and the other was injured.

He was then put in an ambulance and taken to hospital, helpless to do anything but leave his best mate and his sons inside the mosque.

Later he learned that Mustafa was not dead when he left him.

First responders managed to get him to hospital but his injuries were too severe.

He died about an hour later with his wife at his side.

Khaled Mustafa would go to the Mosque every Friday with his friend Hisharm Alzazour. Photo / Supplied

Alzarzour has spent time with Salwa and Zaid since the terror attacks and was able to go to Mustafa and Hamza's funerals.

They were the first of the 50 victims to be buried at the Memorial Park Cemetery.

"I thank God I could go there," Alzarzour said.

"He was my friend… If my situation was worse and I could not have gone it would have stayed in my mind.

"I used to talk to him every day… he was so happy, he wanted to stay here.

"He used to say 'I think God likes us because he gave us the chance to be in New Zealand and I want to stay here.

"Now he will be here forever."

For the first few days after the shooting Alzarzour couldn't stop thinking about it.

His condition was serious - doctors removed some but not all of the bullets.

Then a blood clot travelled to his heart and he was rushed to intensive care.

He is on the road to recovery now but it will be a long journey.

One leg remains numb and he can't move it.

His gunshot wounds still bleed.

But unlike his emotional scars, they will eventually heal.

Alzarzour cannot stop reliving the attack and he doubts that will ever change.

"It's not just anger, I'm sad.

"I'm sad when I think about the people… it's a pain for our whole country.

"It's confusing… how could (the gunman) do this?"

Alzarzour said he saw the video the gunman posted of the shootings.

"I saw it maybe 100 times…. I remember the feeling (in the mosque)," he said.

"It was different in real life - when I saw the video it was bad but in real life it was so much worse."

Alzarzour wants to stay in New Zealand but is not sure if it's the place he thought it was.

"It's not easy to feel safe again," he explained.

"My country is at war and there I was very scared.

"Now this… where can I go now? I don't know.

"I want to stay here but I need to feel more safe before I look at the future."

Alzarzour was buoyed by the support from his community and country.

"I hope all the people of all the religions and cultures stay together, hand by hand," he said.