Hero charged attacker during New Zealand mosque massacre: witness

A survivor of the Christchurch massacre has described how a heroic worshipper at one of the targeted mosques seized an empty rifle discarded by alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant and then used it to chase their attacker away.

Alabi Lateef said he was praying with others inside Linwood Masjid, the second mosque attacked on Friday by self-confessed white supremacist Tarrant, when he heard the sound of gunfire.

"Straight away I stopped my prayer, I peek through the window and I found a person with, you know, machine gun and heavy dress," he told news website Stuff.

"By the time I peeked on the floor I see two, three dead bodies. Then realised oh, this must be something else. This is a terrorist attack." Alabi said he told worshippers to duck down and then described how he and a "brother" decided to confront the attacker during a lull in the gunfire.

"By the time he got there (outside the mosque) the bullets were finished and the gun was used," Lateef recounted.

The pair noticed Tarrant had ..