NEW ZEALAND TERROR TRIBUTES PAID TO TRAGIC Boy, 3, is youngest white supremacist
A TODDLER was named as the youngest victim of the New Zealand mosques massacre as the death toll last night rose to 50.
Mucad Ibrahim, three, was with his brother and father when the shooting started, and has not been seen since.
It is understood the toddler ran for his life, while his dad and brother survived by pretending to be dead.
Yesterday the man accused of carrying out the shootings grinned and made a white power gesture as he appeared in court.
Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a self-described white supremacist, smirked in the dock as he was charged with one count of murder.
The rampage in Christchurch on Friday – in which another 50 people were injured – was the country’s worst terror attack.
Tarrant was remanded in custody and is due to appear in court again on April 5.
A member of the public was reported to have tried to storm the court to “knife” Tarrant before proceedings began.
Details of the victims began to emerge yesterday, as survivors told of their ordeal.
Tragic Mucad’s older brother Abdi told how they had gone to the Masjid Al Noor mosque with their father when the gunman stormed in and opened fire.
He said that afterwards he rushed to hospital in the hope that all his family, including his young brother, would be there.
But he later posted a tribute on Facebook with a touching picture of him and his brother, which read: “Verily we belong to God and to Him we shall return. We miss you dearly brother.”
Relatives described Mucad as “energetic, playful and [who] liked to smile and laugh a lot”.
Other victims to be named are Haji Daud Nabi, 71, and Naeem Rashid and his son Talha, 21. Mr Rashid could be seen in the chilling live-stream of the attack at Al Noor mosque trying to prise the gun from the grip of Tarrant, pictured right.
Mr Nabi’s son Omar said his dad was one of the first Muslims to move to
New Zealand and had described the country as a “slice of paradise”. Husne Ara Parvin, 42, was also shot when she tried to save her wheelchair-bound husband Farid Uddin, according to a relative. Candlelit vigils were held in Christchurch last night, and a remembrance ceremony is planned. Meanwhile, a hero who chased the gunman away was hailed for preventing more bloodshed. Abdul Aziz followed the shooter when he left the second mosque – Linwood Islamic Centre – to get another weapon from his car.
Mr Aziz grabbed an empty shotgun left by the gunman and hurled it through the vehicle’s window, prompting the killer to flee.
Imam Latef Alabi said: “He went after him... and that’s how we were saved. Otherwise, if he managed to come into the mosque, then we would all probably be gone.”