Bondi beach shooting: Australia falls silent, lights candles for victims

Australians fell silent in flickering candlelight yesterday in memory of the Bondi Beach shooting victims, one week after gunmen fired into crowds celebrating a Jewish festival.

A father and son are accused of targeting the beachside Hanukkah event, killing 15 people in the nation's deadliest mass shooting in almost three decades.

From raucous city pubs to sleepy country towns, Australia observed a minute's silence at 6:47 pm (0747 GMT) -- exactly a week since the first reports of gunfire.

Countless homes lined their windowsills with candles in a gesture of "light over darkness", a key theme of the Hanukkah festival.

"Last week took our innocence and, like the grass here at Bondi was stained with blood, so too has our nation been stained," said David Ossip, president of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies.

Summer winds buffeted flags lowered to half-mast across the country, including over the famed Sydney Harbour Bridge.

A candle was lit before thousands of people held their silent vigil at Bondi Beach.