Heartbreaking details of the Christchurch mosque massacre victims emerge as death toll reaches 50
A BOY of three who died in his father’s arms and refugees who had fled war for a better life in New Zealand were named as massacre victims yesterday.
Toddler Mucad Ibrahim was gunned down when maniac Brenton Tarrant burst into a mosque’s prayers.
Older brother Abdi, who escaped with their dad, said no one had seen Mucad since the shooting.
The family has trawled through lists of injured people at Christchurch Hospital to no avail.
Abdi said: “At this stage everyone’s saying he’s dead. It’s been tough. We’ve never dealt with this.”
Heart doctor Amjad Hamid, 57, who moved from Palestine 33 years ago is also missing and wife Hanan said: “It’s terrible. We came here hoping to find a better future.”
Other innocent victims were just four, 12 14 and 16. Their heartbreaking stories emerged yesterday as world leaders told of their shock and revulsion at the slaughter.
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern wore a hijab as she spoke to victims’ families at the Canterbury refugee resettlement centre in Christchurch.
Last night 50 were confirmed dead. Cops are thought to have found another body at Al Noor mosque — the first of Tarrant’s two targets. There were fears the toll could rise to 60.
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Somalian refugee Abdullahi Dirie, four, was one of 42 people to have who died at Al Noor mosque. His dad was among the injured.
Abdullahi’s uncle Abdulrahman Hashi, 60, said: “You cannot imagine how I feel. He was the youngest in the family. This is a problem of extremism. These are innocents.”
Seven died at Linwood Mosque, three miles away where Tarrant continued his murderous rampage. One victim died later in hospital.
Among the dead was keen footballer Heba Sami, 12. He had recently been pictured with a sign saying: “Everyone love everyone.”
Some of his relatives also died and his dad was wounded.
The father of Sayyad Milne, 14, spoke of his “brave little soldier”.
Sayyad had been at Al Noor mosque with his mum and friends.
John Milne said: “I remember him as a baby who I nearly lost at birth. It’s so hard to see him gunned down by someone who didn’t care about anyone or anything.”
Father and son Khaled Mustafa and Hamza, 16, only arrived from Syria a few months ago.
Khaled’s other son Zaid, 13, was injured in the gun rampage and had an operation on Friday night.
He was badly injured and rushed to hospital but died on Friday night.
Eldest son Talha Rashid, 21, was also gunned down.
Those still listed as missing included Ansi Karippakulam Alibava, 25, from India, and Vora Ramiz, 28.
Software engineer Farhaj Ashan, 30, headed to prayers and has not been heard from since leaving the home he shares with wife Insha Aziz and their two children.
His dad Mohammad Sayeeduddin, speaking in India, said: “I do not know where my son is. I have been in contact with his wife and we don’t know anything.”
Insha was refusing to accept her husband was among the dead.
Dentistry student Mojammel Hoq, 30, had been in Christchurch for two years since arriving from Bangladesh. He was missing last night.
Kuwait-born Atta Elayyan, 33 — a goalkeeper in the New Zealand futsal team — was confirmed dead. He had just become a father
Syed Jahandad Ali, 34, spoke to his wife Amna Ali in Pakistan on Friday before leaving for Al Noor mosque and has not been seen since. Five Pakistani nationals are unaccounted for.
Hussain Al Umari, 36, who moved from United Arab Emirates, was a regular at Al Noor mosque on Fridays and has not spoken to family.
His dad Hazim Al-Umari reportedly advised his son not to attend as it was “not safe”.
We came here hoping to find a better future…
Victim's wife
Egyptian-born Osama Adnan, 37, was among the missing. A colleague yesterday posted a tweet hoping he would “show up soon”. Dad of three Kamel Darwish, 39, had attended the mosque on Friday.
His brother Zuhair Darwish was seen speaking to police officers at the mosque and saying: “He’s been missing since 1.30. I came to the mosque and they told me to go to the hospital.”
Haroon Mahmood, 40, leaves a wife and two children aged 13 and 11.
He had completed a doctorate and had been working as assistant academic director of Canterbury College, a private school for English language and business students.
Restaurant owner Mohammad Imran Kham, 47, is believed to have been killed at the Linwood Mosque.
Palestinian-born Abdelfattah Qasem, a former Muslim Association secretary, is another missing.
DEATH TOLL HITS 50
A 65-year-old woman, who sponsored a Bangladeshi boy she is thought to have taken to prayers, was reported to have died in the arms of another woman.
A friend said: “She was like a child about everything, so happy, always excited to do a good deed.”
Palestinian-born Ali Elmadani, 66, went to prayers – and has not been seen since by his wife Nuha Assad.
She said: “I called my husband and he did not pick up.”
Khaled Haj Mustafa had fled the Syrian war. He was in the Al Noor Mosque with two sons. One is in hospital and the other missing.
Among those critically injured at the mosque was Wasseim Alsati, a barber from Jordan, and his young daughter.
Adan Ibrahim Dirie was also shot after visiting with his five children.
Police commissioner Mike Bush yesterday confirmed 50 people were injured. He said it took officers 36 minutes to find and stop Tarrant after their first call at 1.42pm local time.
Mr Bush said: “That is an incredibly fast response time. You had a mobile offender across large metropolitan city.”
Police confirmed all bodies were recovered from the mosques by the end of the night, with a dozen operating theatres in use to save the lives of survivors.
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Candlelit vigils were held in the city last night, with a remembrance ceremony planned for tomorrow.
PM Theresa May sent her condolences to New Zealand and branded the attacks “horrifying”.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “mourns the wanton murder of innocent worshippers and condemns the brazen act of terror”.
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