“Blood everywhere.” Shots and moments of panic at a popular Sydney beach, number of victims uncertain
Armed attack on Sydney's Bondi Beach. Photo credit: Mark Baker/AP/Profimedia
Several people were injured and first aid crews were “working to save lives” on Sunday after a gun incident on Sydney's popular Bondi Beach, which is very crowded over the weekend, Australian officials said.
Thirteen people were taken to hospital after the gun incident, a New South Wales Ambulance Service spokesman said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as “shocking and painful”, adding that “emergency response teams are on the scene and working to save lives”.
ABC broadcast images of people lying on the ground.
What the witnesses say
“I saw at least 10 people lying on the ground and blood everywhere,” Harry Wilson, a 30-year-old local who witnessed the shootings, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Jews who went to light the first candle of the Hanukkah holiday on the beach were attacked by “vile terrorists”.
One of the most famous beaches in the world, Bondi is usually crowded with locals and tourists, especially on warm weekend evenings.
“If we were deliberately targeted in this way, it's something on a scale that none of us could have ever imagined. It's a horrible thing,” Alex Ryvchin, co-executive director of the Executive Council of Australian Jews, told Sky News, adding that his media adviser was injured in the attack.
Video clips of the aftermath of the attack are circulating on the internet
Videos circulating on X appear to show people on the beach and in a nearby park scattering as more gunshots and police sirens rang out.
One video showed a man in a black shirt firing a large-caliber weapon before being restrained by a man in a white T-shirt who wrested the weapon from him.
Another video showed two men being tackled to the ground by uniformed police officers on a small footbridge. Police could be seen trying to revive one of the men. Reuters says it could not immediately verify the images.
The attack came almost exactly 11 years after a gunman took 18 people hostage at Sydney's Lindt Cafe. Two hostages and the gunman were killed after a 16-hour standoff.
