Malaysia has condemned the New Zealand mass shooting incident in which unconfirmed number of worshipers lost their lives.
In a press statement, the country’s ministry of foreign affairs called on those responsible for the barbaric crime to be brought to justice.
Video footage widely circulated on social media, apparently taken by a gunman and posted online live as the attack unfolded, showed him driving to one mosque, entering it and shooting randomly at people inside.
Worshippers, possibly dead or wounded, lay huddled on the floor of the mosque, the video showed. Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the footage.
One man who said he was at the Al Noor mosque told media the gunman was white, blond and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest. The man burst into the mosque as worshippers were kneeling for prayers.
“He had a big gun … he came and started shooting everyone in the mosque, everywhere,” said the man, Ahmad Al-Mahmoud. He said he and others escaped by breaking through a glass door.
Radio New Zealand quoted a witness inside the mosque saying he heard shots fired and at least four people were lying on the ground and “there was blood everywhere.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned what she called “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”
“This is one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” she said.
Neither Ardern nor police gave a casualty toll.
New Zealand’s Police Commissioner Mike Bush said four people – three men and a woman – had been taken into custody but it was not clear if the gunman was among them or if other people were involved.