The horrific pair of consecutive shootings at two separate mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand has left 50 people dead and dozens more wounded.
The carnage, which occurred at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on March 15, has received international condemnation and ignited discussions on changes to the country’s gun laws.
As more recent reports of the victims emerge, a portrait of the Christchurch Muslim community spans more than a handful of countries throughout the Middle east and Asia.
Among the lives lost include Ansi Alibava, 25, who moved to New Zealand with her husband Abdul Nazer from the Indian state of Kerala to pursue her master’s degree in agribusiness management, Indonesian Lilik Abdul Hamid, a 50-year-old aircraft engineer for Air New Zealand, and Malaysian-New Zealander Sayyad Ahmad Milne, 14, described as “well-mannered” and “genuine” who had a future full of potential.
All three were shooting victims at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch.
Twitter user Khaled Beydoun, an author and law professor based in Detroit, posted several heartfelt tributes to other victims who had immigrated from countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. According to Stuff, more Pakistanis were killed in the terror attack than any other nationality.
To date, 50 people have been confirmed dead after the twin massacres. Injured victims — including a four-year-old girl — are still receiving treatment.
Stuff.co.nz listed the names of the deceased:
- Muse Nur Awale, 77
- Haji-Daoud Nabi, 71
- Abdukadir Elmi, 70
- Hussein Moustafa, 70
- Ahmad Gamaluddin Abdel Ghani, 68
- Mounir Soliman, 68
- Muhammed Abdusi Samad, 66
- Linda Armstrong, 65
- Ali Elmadani, 65
- Maheboob Allarakha Khokhar, 65
- Mohsin Al Harbi, 63
- Ashraf Ali, 61
- Musa Vali Suleman Patel, 60
- Abdelfattah Qasem, 60
- Karam Bibi, in her 60s
- Ghulam Hussain, 60s
- Lilik Abdul Hamid, 58
- Arifbhai Mohamedali Vora, 58
- Amjad Hamid, 57
- Mathullah Safi, 55
- Mohammed Imran Khan, 47
- Khaled Alhaj Mustafa, 45
- Husna Ahmed, 44
- Haroon Mahmood, 40
- Mian Naeem Rashid, 40s
- Kamel Darwish, 38
- Zeeshan Raza, 38
- Osama Adnan Youssef Kwaik, 37
- Mohammed Omar Faruk, 36
- Junaid Ismail, 36
- Hussein Al-Umari, 35
- Shahid Suhail, 35
- Syed Jahandad Ali, 34
- Atta Elayyan, 33
- Farhaj Ahsan, 30
- Mojammel Hoq, 30
- Ramiz Arifbhai Vora, 28
- Syed Areeb Ahmed, 26
- Ansi Alibava, 25
- Ozair Kadir, 24
- Tariq Omar, 24
- Talha Naeem, 21
- Hamza Mustafa, 16
- Sayyad Milne, 14
- Mucad Ibrahim, 3
- Ashraf al-Masri, unspecified age
- Ashraf Ali, unspecified age
- Zakaria Bhuiyan, unspecified age, presumed dead
- A male, unspecified age
- An unidentified victim
On Monday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that her cabinet has made several “in principle decisions” regarding the reform of gun laws.
“I intend to give further details of these decisions to the media and the public before cabinet meets again next Monday. This ultimately means that within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer,” she said, according to The Guardian.
