Kiwis mourn shooting victims
AWAITING NEWS Preliminary list of the victims released to families, which helped give closure to some relatives
CHRISTCHURCH : New Zealanders flocked to pay tribute on Sunday to the 50 worshippers slain in two mosque attacks, as families clamoured for the return of their dead.
Coroners said they hoped to let grieving relatives fulfil Islamic burial customs soon, but insisted they had to move carefully through their investigation into the horrific multiple murder. As New Zealand grappled to come to terms with the slaughter, the worst attack on Muslims in a Western country, tales of heroism, suffering and incredible grace began to emerge.
Farid Ahmad, whose 44-yearold wife Husna was killed as she rushed back into a mosque to rescue him, refused to harbour hatred toward the alleged gunman, Australian-born, selfavowed white nationalist, Brenton Tarrant. “I would say to him ‘I love him as a person’,” Ahmad, who uses a wheelchair, told AFP. Husna Ahmad was among four women believed to have been killed by Tarrant, who documented his radicalisation and two years of preparations in a lengthy, meandering and conspiracy-filled far-right “manifesto”.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her office and some 30 other officials had received the document by email about nine minutes before the attack. “It did not include a location, it did not include specific details,” she said, adding that it was sent to security services within two minutes of receipt.
On Sunday, the prime minister, wearing a black headscarf, appeared visibly moved as she greeted and hugged members of the Muslim community in Wellington, and laid a floral tribute to the victims of Friday’s atrocity. Around Christchurch, New Zealand and the world there have been vigils, prayers, memorials and messages of solidarity.
“We stand together with our Muslim brothers & sisters” were the words on a large red banner. An emotion-filled haka, the Maori war dance, was performed by a New Zealand biker gang to honour the Christchurch dead.