A young Scottish woman has described the moment she fled for her life during a deadly terrorist shooting at a Jewish festival on Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach, saying she was determined not to die without saying goodbye to her family.
A Sunset Walk Turns to Terror
Miya Lind, a 26-year-old model from Kirknewton in West Lothian, was walking with friends towards the beach to watch the sunset last Sunday evening when the attack began. The group was on a bridge in the Archer Park area, where more than 1,000 people had gathered to celebrate Hanukkah, when they heard what they initially thought were firecrackers.
"We heard 'pops' going off," Ms Lind recounted. It was her friend who first recognised the danger for what it was and knew they had to start running immediately. The suspected attackers, 24-year-old Naveed Akram and his 50-year-old father Sajid Akram, are believed to have opened fire on the crowd, leaving 15 people dead in one of Australia's worst mass shootings in recent years.
'I Was Not Prepared For It At All'
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Breakfast show, Ms Lind described the sheer terror of the escape. "It was absolutely terrifying," she said. "At that point my friend, she was running with her bag covering her head, and I had these really flimsy shoes on. I was not prepared for it at all."
As she ran, she believed she was facing her final moments. Her thoughts turned to making peace with her situation. "I just remember looking at the sky at some point and just thinking, you know, I'm not going to die in fear," she said. "I'm going to appreciate where I am and how beautiful the sky is. I'd rather that be my last memories."
Most powerfully, she focused on her family. "Maybe somehow, if I can think of my family and whatnot, they'll understand that I left and I love them, and I just didn't think I was going to ever get to say goodbye."
A Desperate Retrieval and a Chilling Discovery
Ms Lind and her friends ran to the end of the beach and took shelter in an alleyway. It was then she realised she had dropped her phone. In a moment of desperate resolve, she braved the ongoing danger to retrieve it. "I realised I dropped my phone, and stupidly I kind of stuck my head out and ran a little bit ahead to go back and retrieve it," she admitted.
Her motivation was simple yet profound: "I thought there's no way I'm leaving this Earth and not getting to say goodbye to my family."
The group hid behind an ice cream truck, unsure if they were running to safety or into further danger, not knowing how many attackers were involved. The grim reality of the situation truly sank in when Ms Lind tried to catch her breath. "I'd looked to my left and there was just blood streaming down the path next to me," she recalled. "I think that's when it sank in... once we had seen the blood, that kind of really just confirmed what had happened."
Aftermath and Charges
The aftermath of the attack was, in Ms Lind's words, "absolutely heartbreaking." Naveed Akram, who remains in hospital, has since been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act. His father, Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police at the scene.
Ms Lind's testimony provides a harrowing, first-hand account of the chaos and fear that erupted during the Bondi Beach shootings, highlighting the human stories behind the tragic headlines from the Sydney terror attack.
