Survivors of the Christchurch mosque attacks have described the role a door with an electric locking system played in preventing people from escaping the shooter
When the gunman began to attack the Al Noor mosque, Ahmed Alayedy scrambled to get to the nearest emergency exit. He was the first one there.Khaled Alnobani gestures as he explains his escape through a glass door panel. He thinks as many as 17 people may have died trying to get out through the door.
Fifty people were slaughtered by the gunman at two Christchurch mosques during the attack, including 42 who died at Al Noor. Alayedy and others say that if the door had been wide open like it typically was during Friday prayers, many more people might have escaped. Alayedy said that in the confusion, he can't be sure if he simply failed to turn the lever properly or if something else stopped the door from opening.Alnobani said he, too, tried to open the door and it didn't work, and he's familiar with the lever. He said he believes the door was electronically locked. Simply pushing a button next to the door would have unlocked it, he said, but nobody knew about the new system.
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