Mubasher: Forty people have been killed and over 20 were seriously injured in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand.

Multiple casualties have been brought to Christchurch Hospital, surrounded by a heavy police presence.

The sequence of events remains unclear, but a report said that an attack took place Al Noor mosque, located in central Christchurch along Deans Avenue, while a survivor told TV New Zealand that a gunman shoot a man in the chest.

Other reports said that the perpetrator attacked the men’s prayer room in the mosque, and then shifted to the women’s room.

A second mosque was attacked in the suburb of Linwood has been evacuated, while “multiple fatalities” were recorded at both sites, Police Commissioner Mike Bush told the BBC.

It is not yet known how many shooters were at both locations, but one gunman was an Australian who is believed to have declared his intentions, as he takes up far right and anti-immigrant ideology, the news agency said.

Three men and one woman were held in detentions, Bush said, warning that more suspects may be at large.

Authorities told all mosques in the city to close their doors until further notice, after this unprecedented act of violence.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister described the incidents as a terrorist attack.