Ex-England cricket captain Michael Vaughan tells how he and his terrified household had been holed up in a restaurant as two alleged terrorists opened hearth in Bondi – killing 16

Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan spoke last night of the horror that unfolded as he and his family were caught up in the Bondi Beach terror attacks.

Vaughan, his wife, Nichola, and their two daughters had been to watch son Archie play cricket in the Sydney suburb of Mosman and had returned to the Bondi Beach area for an evening meal.

Vaughan, who is in Australia commentating on the Ashes series, was on the terrace outside the Royal Bondi pub a few hundred yards from where the attacks took place just after 6.30pm local time, when he saw police cars swarming the streets.

‘We were having a drink until the pub restaurant, Totti’s, opened at 7pm,’ Vaughan told the Daily Mail. 

‘I was outside on the patio on my phone. Suddenly, there were police everywhere and I thought there must have been a shark attack or maybe a fight on the beach. 

‘Then I started hearing shots and I thought they were fireworks.

Michael Vaughan (pictured commentating on the second Ashes Test in Brisbane) was with his wife and two daughters at a Bondi pub when the attack began

The former England captain (pictured with daughter Tallula) and his loved ones were locked inside the pub and told they couldn’t leave during the massacre

Pictured: The post Vaughan published on X shortly after the attack in Bondi

‘There were a couple of bouncers on the door and they said “get inside quick”. 

‘Everyone was very sombre. No one knew what was happening but then rumours started to spread that there were attacks happening all over the city.

‘There was a room full of around 30 Jewish people having a party in the pub, too, and we were all locked inside and told that we could not leave.

‘Someone said that Dover Heights, which is a suburb on the hillside overlooking the beach, had been attacked.

‘I didn’t tell my girls what people were saying. We were kept in there for a couple of hours. I could see a bit of panic on the faces of the doormen.

‘They were saying that people were being taken hostage on the beach. 

‘I suppose if you are a bouncer in a situation like that, there are a lot of thoughts flying round your head, too. You can take a punch but you can’t see a bullet coming.

‘I just feel so desperately sorry for the poor people who have lost their lives and lost loved ones. I can’t believe it has happened here. 

Pictured: One of the alleged gunmen. NSW Police claim the attackers were a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son

Mourners are pictured leaving tributes to the dead at Bondi Beach on Monday morning

‘Part of the reason you come to Australia is because you feel safe here.

‘Thankfully, we were allowed out after a couple of hours and we were able to get back to our house in Coogee, nearby. 

‘I went for a walk on the beach there this morning and it was very sombre. 

‘I suppose everyone realises it could have happened there. It could have happened anywhere.’

Sixteen people have been killed in the attack, including a 10-year-old girl, with at least 42 others injured. 

Australian authorities say the incident was a deliberate attack on the Jewish community, with the alleged gunmen targeting people who were attending a Hanukkah celebration at the northern end of the beach. 

Police revealed the rumour that Dover Heights was also attacked was false.