Syrian family's dad and son killed, another son injured after Christchurch terror attack

Saturday, 16 March 2019

A 16-year-old boy who was praying at a Christchurch mosque when a terror suspect opened fire has been confirmed dead, alongside his father.

Syrian man Khaled Mustafa and his two sons, Hamza, 16, and Zaid, 13, were praying at the Deans Ave mosque when the shooting began.

Syrian Solidarity New Zealand spokesman Ali Akil earlier confirmed Khaled Mustafa had died in the attack. At the time Hamza was missing and Zaid was in Christchurch Hospital after a six-hour operation.

On Sunday, it was confirmed that Hamza was dead also.

Tributes for the dead and injured in Christchurch have been flowing.

Families who had arrived in the country only a few months ago are among the multiple people who have been shot in a mass shooting incident at a Christchurch Mosque. People have come down to the corner of Riccarton Rd and Deans Ave to lay flowers.

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Worshippers emerge from the Deans Ave mosque in Christchurch, hours after a shooter opened fire.

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People gather the corner of Riccarton Rd and Deans Ave on Saturday to pay their respects to the victims of the terror attack.

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Christchurch Boys' High School students sing and pray at the Deans Ave cordon on Saturday.

Akil earlier said he had spoken to Mustafa's wife, who was 'devastated and deeply horrified' and did not want to talk to the media at this time.

The brothers are Cashmere High School students.

People laid flowers at the intersection of Riccarton Rd and Deans Ave on Saturday.

Mustafa's wife and daughter were in 'total shock, devastation and horror', Akil said.

Christchurch's South West Baptist Church's senior Pastor, Alan Jamieson, said the church had supported three families from the Middle East through a community sponsorship programme since they arrived in July. Four people connected to these three families were shot at the mosque on Friday, he said.

Jamieson said the families had become friends and part of the community and the church was providing support to them following the terror attack.

Akil said the shooting could not be treated as an 'isolated incident'.

'Let's be honest: Bigotry and racism have been on the rise for some time and we need to acknowledge there is a problem in order to be able to fix it.'

He was grateful for the work police, first responders, health providers and the Government had done following the attack and for the public's support 'but going forward from there we need to understand the impact of this atrocious event'.

'We thought it was never going to happen and the fact it has happened once, there is every possibility it could happen again.'

He said authorities needed to make people feel safe again.

'I don't feel safe, my family don't feel safe, my wife is terrified to pick up the children at school on Monday. Every Muslim person and every immigrant and every person of colour in this country we don't feel safe right now.'

Akil moved to New Zealand 20 years ago and lives here with his parents, wife and three daughters.

'When we first arrived in New Zealand, and for a long time, we felt very safe, but a few years ago we started to see racism and bigotry rising.'

Akil, a software engineer, said he did not experience open instances of racism in his work, but his father, who has a convenience store in Auckland's CBD, has seen it rising 'day in day out' since Donald Trump started campaigning to be president of the United States.

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