“People were dragging their kids away, there were something like 40 shots. It sounded like fireworks,” said Sydney teacher Bianca, 26, who heard dozens of gunshots ring out across the beach.
“They looked shocked, traumatised, confused.”
In the wake of the bloodshed, an AFP journalist saw an abandoned children’s stroller and other items discarded by people who fled the bloodbath.
A witness who declined to be named said he saw six dead or wounded people lying on the beach.
Emergency sirens
As evening fell, the normally raucous party strip was swiftly cleared as armed police cordoned off busy streets, the pulsing lights of nightclubs replaced with strobing emergency sirens.
French tourist Sam, 24, said he was struggling to comprehend what had unfolded.
“I don’t know what to think. I just feel sad for people,” he said.
“At least I didn’t get injured.”
Another witness, Camilo Diaz, a 25-year-old student from Chile, told AFP the shots rang out for what felt like 10 minutes.
“It was shocking ... It seemed like a powerful weapon,” she said.
Hours later, the beach was deserted.
Nearby, a woman clutched her baby tightly, and a few shellshocked witnesses were coming to grips with the horror that had unfolded.
A member of the Jewish community held his kippah - a visible display of the faith authorities say came under attack.
Some witnesses huddled under shop awnings, smoking and phoning worried relatives to let them know they had survived.
A small crowd gathered on the footpath outside an apartment, watching the evening news through a window.
A British tourist told AFP he saw “two shooters in black” after the gunfire broke out.
“There was a shooting, two shooters in black with semi-automatic rifles,” Timothy Brant-Coles said.
Video emerged on social media showing a man wrestling a gun out of the hands of one of those men.
He and others were hailed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as “heroes”.
-Agence France-Presse
