A man who was celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach when two men opened fire in a terror attack that killed 12 people has described the terrifying moment it began.
‘I was here with my family, it was a Hanukkah celebration, there were hundreds of people, there were children, there were elderly, families enjoying themselves,’ Arsen Ostrovsky, an international human rights lawyer, told 9News.
‘Children, kids at a festival, playing and then all of a sudden it’s absolute chaos. There’s gunfire, everywhere, people ducking, it was absolute chaos.
‘We didn’t know what was happening, where the gunfire was coming from.’
He said he had lived in Israel for 13 years and survived the October 7, 2023 attacks.
‘We’ve lived through worse, we’re gonna get through this, and we’re going to get the bastards who did this,’ he said.
‘I saw at least one gunman … firing randomly and in all directions.
‘I saw children fall to the floor, I saw elderly, I saw invalids, it was an absolute bloodbath.
Arsen Ostrovsky was caught up in the horrific shooting
‘October 7, that’s the last time I saw this. I never thought I’d see this in Australia, not in my lifetime, on Bondi Beach of all places, this iconic place.’
At least 12 people have died, including children and at least 29 injured after the horrific attack.
A Jewish festival, Chanukah by the Sea, advertised as a night of family fun, was taking place, with children attending the event when the gunmen opened fire.
Witnesses said two men stepped out of a vehicle on Campbell Parade, near Bondi Pavilion, and opened fire about 6.40pm on Sunday with footage showing blast after blast on the tourist strip. Some witnesses reported more than 30 shots.
A number of people could be seen lying injured and unmoving on grass at North Bondi.
Others were loaded into ambulances on stretchers while onlookers attempted to provide support.
People on the ground reported panic, confusion and disbelief as chaos continued to unfold with emergency services on the scene.
One of the gunmen was shot dead by police. The other one was shot, and is in custody.
Police later said they were working to disarm what they have described as an improvised explosive device.
‘A number of suspicious items located in the vicinity are being examined by specialist officers and an exclusion zone is in place,’ NSW Police said in a statement at 9pm.
Co-chief of the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin described the incident as ‘our worst fear realised’.
‘It’s a family event, a beautiful event every year,’ he told Sky News.
‘If this is what we think it is, it is our worst fear realised… if we were targeted it’s something of a scale none of us could ever imagine.’