Lindt siege: Man Monis claimed cafe manager Tori Johnson was responsible for any deaths
Elly Chen, 23, a survivor of the Lindt Cafe siege told the inquest today how she had hidden under a table before escaping and had sent what she thought might be her last text.
ELLY Chan has revealed she feared she would be shot dead when she fled the Lindt Cafe siege.
The 23-year-old hostage told the inquest in Sydney today that she had been “gravely concerned” about escaping.
Ms Chen fell ill during the siege and had vomited, prompting gunman Man Monis to suggest videoing her to gain sympathy for the hostages.
But she was then able to secretly crawl under a table with fellow waitress and escapee April Bae.
She sent a friend what she thought might be her last text: “I’ll see you on the other side.”
Ms Chen said Monis had become angry after three of the hostages fled at around 3.35pm on December 15, 2014.
Earlier the inquest heard how Monis had told hostages that if anyone died in the siege it would be the fault of Tori Johnson because he was the manager of the Lindt Cafe.
The inquest has heard Mr Johnson’s authority and his position as manager led to Monis treating him differently to the other hostages.
He was shot dead by Monis, leading police to storm the cafe and bring the siege to an end.
Ms Chen, who had worked at the cafe for just days before the siege, said she used the distraction of three hostages — John O’Brien, Stefan Balafoutis and Paolo Vassalo — escaping to crawl on her hands and knees under table 40, which was next to the glass doors opening into the Martin Place foyer of the cafe.
She said Monis had been angry at the trio’s escape.
“He was very angry and he said that if anybody escaped now it’s Tori’s fault because he is the manager and if people die it’s because of him,” she said.
“I believed him.”
Ms Chen said Ms Bae told her it was her mother’s birthday that day and she needed to escape.
Ms Bae gradually opened the bolts on the doors and the two of them fled around 5pm.
As the pair hid under the table, Ms Chenc texted a friend: “I’ll see you on the other side”.
Today, she told the inquest she was “gravely concerned” about escaping.
Ms Chen had been able to secretly crawl under the table because she had been lying on the floor feeling ill and had vomited.
Gunman Man Monis had suggested videoing her while she was vomiting as part of his plan to gather sympathy for the hostages, the inquest heard.
One of the first things Ms Chen told heavily armed police waiting outside was that the gunman was “nice”.
“He did keep telling us that he was a nice person,” she said, despite holding a sawn-off shotgun at her back at one stage.
“He was giving us water, he gave us food. I thought it was manipulation but I believed him that he was nice.
“That was one of the first things I said about him when I came out to the police, that he was nice.”
Hostage Katrina Dawson was killed by a bullet fragment when police stormed the cafe.
The inquest in Sydney continues.
RELATED ARTICLES: MARTIN PLACE SIEGE
• As it happened: How the siege unfolded
• Gunman among three dead as gunfight brings an end to siege
• Hostage down! Moment police stormed cafe
• Identifying the hostages of the siege
• Sydney siege hostage Marcia Mikhael
• Flower tributes at Martin Place
• Hero Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson ‘was an amazing person’
• Katrina Dawson was a barrister, friend, colleague and mother of three
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