‘I thought I was going to die’: Australian shoppers tell of horror of Bondi Junction mass stabbing

Witnesses have told of their panic as they tried to escape a lone attacker who moved through a shopping centre in Bondi Junction, killing five people and seriously injuring others, including a small child.

Sydney residents Huma Hussainy and Mohamad Naveed were at the Westfield shopping centre when they saw a man with a “massive” knife and ran into a nearby Lululemon store.

Authorities are working to identify the male who attacked nine people with a knife in the Sydney mall before being shot dead by a lone police officer who happened to be nearby.

Witnesses told how the Westfield shopping centre staff were pivotal in helping guide people away from danger.

Photograph: AAP/ReutersJason, a shopper evacuated from the six-storey centre, told 9 News he saw the lone attacker carrying a “big blade” and then “everyone started running toward the end of the building.

Nikki Marshall was inside David Jones department story on level four of the shopping centre when she said she became aware of the incident at about 3.35pm.