England and Australia’s cricket teams, as well as the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground, have honoured the emergency service personnel and members of the public who responded during a mass shooting at Bondi Beach in December.
Both teams formed an on-field guard of honour, and the spectators joined in with loud applause before the fifth Test match of the Ashes series, which got under way on Sunday.
The biggest cheer from the sold-out crowd was reserved for hero Ahmed al-Ahmed, who ran towards one of the attackers and wrestled the gun from him, walking out with his right arm in a sling.
The 43-year-old fruit shop owner was filmed tackling and disarming one of the attackers and was widely hailed as a hero, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese terming al-Ahmed’s actions an example of “Australians coming together”.
Al-Ahmed is an Australian Muslim citizen of Syrian origin, and comes from the village of al-Nayrab, near Idlib in Syria. He is understood to have moved to Australia in 2006.
Al-Ahmed was having lunch in the area when the shooting took place, and he intervened.
Authorities have described the shooting as an anti-Jewish terrorist attack, which took place at the famous tourist spot of Bondi Beach, not far from the Sydney Cricket Ground.
During a gathering at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration, two men – later identified as father-son duo Sajid and Naveed Akram – opened fire at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and wounding at least 42.
Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg called the attack “a devastating tragedy”.
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