The bystander who tackled one of the gunmen in the attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney was seriously injured, according to Australian officials, who on Monday identified him as Ahmed el Ahmed. He is recovering in a hospital.

At least 16 people, including one of the alleged gunmen, were killed in the mass shooting during a Hanukah celebration on Sunday evening.

Extraordinary footage of the scene shows Ahmed rushing towards one of the shooters, leaping on to him and wrestling the gun from his hands.

Jozay, a cousin of Ahmed, said he was recovering from his first surgery and had two more to come. “He took a lot of medication, he can’t speak well,” Jozay said after leaving the hospital on Monday evening.

Another cousin, Mustafa al-Asaad, told the Al Araby television network that Ahmed intervened as a “humanitarian act”.

“When he saw people dying and their families being shot, he couldn’t bear to see people dying,” he said.

“It was a humanitarian act, more than anything else. It was a matter of conscience … He’s very proud that he saved even one life.

“When he saw this scene, people dying of gunfire, he told me, ‘I couldn’t bear this. God gave me strength. I believe I’m going to stop this person killing people’.”

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