Tigers 3 to 4 minutes from being caught up in massacre

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, Mar 15 (AFP): Bangladesh's Test cricketers were just a few minutes from being caught up in Friday's massacre in New Zealand when they arrived at a Christchurch mosque as shooting began, a team spokesman said.

In a chilling account, Khaled Mashud described how most of the Bangladeshi team drove up to the Masjid al Noor in a bus just as the attack got underway.

At least 49 people died in attacks on two mosques during Friday prayers in what appeared to be the worst assault on Muslims in a Western country.

"We were very close, we could see the mosque. We were maximum 50 yards away. I would say we are very lucky," Mashud told reporters in Christchurch.

"If we were there three to four minutes earlier, we would have been in the mosque, massive thing might have happened."

Mashud said about 17 Bangladeshi players and team staff on the bus watched as blood-soaked victims staggered from the building.

"It looked like video, what we usually see in a movie. From the bus we saw bloodied people coming out of the mosque," he said.

"We were in the bus about eight to 10 minutes. We kept our heads down in the bus, in case of any firing (towards them).