Dad threw himself in front of bullets to save son
AN INJURED father is comforted by his young son seconds after shielding the boy from a hail of bullets.
Zulfirman Syah was shot several times at his mosque as he tried to protect two-year-old Averroes in the New Zealand gun rampage.
Throwing himself over the youngster – who suffered shrapnel wounds – he was able to guard the boy until other worshippers chased the attacker away. Last night both father and son were recovering in hospital. The pair were at the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch on Friday when 28-year-old white supremacist Brenton Tarrant began firing at worshippers, killing eight.
The self-proclaimed racist had killed 42 in an earlier attack on the nearby Masjid Al Noor mosque. Mr Syah’s American wife Alta Marie wrote on Facebook: ‘My husband shielded our son during the attack at Linwood Islamic Centre, which caused him to receive most of the bullets and much more complex injuries than our son.’ The injured father, an artist who arrived in New Zealand with his family from Indonesia just two months ago, is in a stable condition following ‘extensive exploratory and reconstructive surgery’.
His wife added: ‘The road to recovery will be long.’ She said their son had been hit by shrapnel. ‘Averroes sustained minor injuries and had surgery this morning to extract some shrapnel while checking for internal injuries,’ she said. ‘He is recovering nicely and has been cheerful while keeping the staff on the children’s ward entertained with his talkative and energetic nature.’
Some 34 victims remain in hospital – 12 of them in intensive care – after Tarrant’s killing spree, which left 50 dead.
The massacre’s youngest victim has been named as three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim, who became separated from his father and brother at the Al Noor mosque.
His brother Abdi described him as a joyful, energetic child who always seemed to be laughing. ‘My mum, she’s been struggling,’ he added. ‘Every time she sees other people crying, emotional, she just collapses.’ Abdullahi Dirie, four, was also killed in the attacks while four of his siblings managed to escape. His uncle, Abdulrahman Hashi, 60, a preacher at a mosque in Minne-
‘Give everything to save them’
apolis, US, said: ‘He was the youngest in the family. This is a problem of extremism. Some people think the Muslims in their country are part of that, but these are innocent people.’ Pakistan-born Mian Naeem Rashid, 50, who could be seen lunging at the gunman in video live-streamed by Tarrant at the Al Noor mosque, was also killed along with his 21-year- old son Talha. Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan yesterday said Mr Rashid would be recognised with a national award. Safi Rizwan, a nephew of Mr Rashid, said his relative’s actions sent a message: ‘If you see something happening that is not good for other humans, or if that is hurting other people, you give your everything to save them, even it means giving your life’. Atta Elayyan, 33, the goalkeeper for New Zealand’s futsal (a form of five-a-side football) team, was also reportedly killed.
Also among the dead was ‘good-natured’ Sayyad Milne, 14. Afghan-born Abdul Aziz, 48, said he chased Tarrant with his own weapon after the terrorist dropped it. He told the BBC: ‘I just threw the gun on his car windows and it smashed his window and that time he got a bit frightened.’