Former England Captain Michael Vaughan Escapes Deadly Attack on Jewish Hanukkah Celebration in Bondi

Former England captain Michael Vaughan and his family were lucky to be trapped in a Bondi restaurant at the time of the deadly attack on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at the famous beach there on Sunday evening. The pundit, who’s in Australia for the ongoing Ashes, has now recounted the horrors of the incident that left 15 people dead only a few kilometers away from him. Dozens more were injured after gunmen opened fire on a crowd of around 1,000 people. Police said a father and son carried out the shooting, with the father killed in a shootout and the son critically injured, prompting authorities to declare it a terrorist attack. “Like most people, I have been at home watching terrorist attacks unfold in London, or Manchester, near where I live. That all feels very close to home and is scary. But to be so close that you can hear it happening is terrifying," Vaughan wrote in his column forThe Telegraph. “At first, I heard the very loud sirens and thought it was a shark attack. Usually when you hear that sound on the beach it’s sharks, or a couple of well-oiled blokes brawling. But it quickly became clear it was even more concerning than that. As we waited for our table at the restaurant, we were having a drink in the Royal pub next door, and I was on the phone outside. The bouncer walked over with his hands in a gun sign and told me to get inside." “By the time we were sat down, we knew there had been attack, and the social media rumour mill began to swirl. People were saying there were hostages on the beach, and that there were more attacks all over Sydney and Australia. The restaurant locked the doors and made clear no one was leaving until it was safe. That was about 7pm, and we did not leave until almost 9pm." “I have never experienced anything like it. You know what’s happening around you, but you don’t want to believe it’s happening. There were people eating but it was a very sombre atmosphere. There were six of us – me, my wife, her sister, my two daughters, and one of their friends. Obviously, I was trying to stay as calm as possible because the youngsters know what is happening and you don’t want to give them anything else to fear," he added. Swipe Left For Next Video “It’s the day after when you think that we could have been sat on that beach. We had been watching my son play cricket and it overran. We could easily have gone down to the beach rather than straight to the pub and restaurant," he said.