How Bondi's Hanukkah festival turned from joy to horror within minutes

It was a night that promised to bring "joy and light" to Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach as crowds of Jewish families gathered at a park to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, also known as the festival of light.

They were among thousands of other swimmers, surfers and sunbathers who had flocked to Australia's most famous beach on a scorching summer's afternoon.

But not long after the Hanukkah event kicked off at 17:00 local time and the first free donuts were doled out, festive music was drowned out by the sounds of screams and the echo of gunshots.

It's unclear exactly when the first shot was fired, but the initial call to police was made at 18:47.

In the minutes that followed, two gunmen would kill at least 15 people, and injure dozens more, authorities said.

A local high school teacher, Chavi, told the BBC she dropped to the ground to protect her baby as "bullets were flying above us".

"It was pandemonium and chaos," another attendee, who identified himself as Barry, said as he described watching a throng of people trying to escape the scene that had suddenly devolved into a nightmare.

In one video verified by the BBC, upbeat music from the Hanukkah event can still be heard in the background as people crouch down and shots are heard, interspersed between shrieks.

The eerily jubilant music continues playing while the camera pans over the grass, revealing prostrate bodies completely still, their condition unclear.

Separate footage shows groups of people lying atop one another on the grass, as one woman tries to cover a young child's head with her hand.