National service to honour massacre dead
CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand will hold a national remembrance service for victims of the Christchurch massacre on Friday, the government announced yesterday, as the country grieves over a tragedy that shocked the world.
The service will take place i n Christchurch at 10am l ocal time, two weeks after an Australian white supremacist gunned down 50 Muslims and wounded dozens of others at two mosques in the city on March 15.
“The national remembrance service provides an opportunity for Cantabrians [Christchurch-area residents], New Zealanders and people all around the world to come together as one to honour the victims of the terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.
Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old motivated by the white extremist belief that Muslims were “invading” Western countries, was arrested within minutes of the massacre and has been charged with murder.
The slaughter, which he cold-bloodedly live-streamed, has rocked the normally laid-back country of 4.5 million.
“In the week since the unprecedented terror attack there has been an outpouring of grief and love in our country,” Ms Ardern said.
“The service will be a chance to once again show that New Zealanders are compassionate, inclusive and diverse, and that we will protect those values.”
The service will be held at Hagley Park in Christchurch, located across the street from the Al Noor Mosque where the killing spree began.
Most victims were gunned down at Al Noor before Mr Tarrant killed seven more at the smaller Linwood Mosque several kilometres away.
Police subsequently took over the mosques for investigations but handed them back to the Muslim community on Saturday.
The faithful were allowed back into Al Noor shortly afterwards, and yesterday Linwood re-opened after both sites underwent hasty work to repair bullet holes and clean bloodstains.
Present for Linwood’s reopening was Afghan refugee Abdul Aziz, who was hailed as a hero after he chased Mr Tarrant away from the mosque wielding only a hand-held credit card machine, which likely prevented further bloodshed.
“When I passed through [the door] I got this pressure in my head,” Mr Aziz, a 48-year-old father of four, said as he joined the mosque’s imam, Alabi Lateef Zirullah.