New Delhi: Atleast five Indians have been killed in the horrific New Zealand mosque shootings though some reports place the number of death at seven. Two days after the deadly attack, the high commission confirmed that five Indians were killed in the attack.
The New Zealand police confirmed on Sunday morning that the death count in the horrific shootings has risen to 50.
The police added that the arrested Australia-born 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, was believed to be the lone gunman in the attack.
"With a very heavy heart we share the news of loss of precious lives of our 5 nationals in ghastly terror attack in #Christchurch," Indian High Commission's tweet read mentioning the names of those who died.
The deceased were identified as Maheboob Khokhar, Ramiz Vora, Asif Vora, Ansi Alibava and Ozair Kadir. However, according to a report in The Times of India, seven people of Indian origin lost their lives in the Christchurch shootings.
With a very heavy heart we share the news of loss of precious lives of our 5 nationals in ghastly terror attack in #Christchurch Mr. Maheboob Khokhar Mr. Ramiz VoraMr. Asif VoraMs Ansi AlibavaMr. Ozair Kadir@kohli_sanjiv @MEAIndia @SushmaSwaraj 1/3— India in New Zealand (@IndiainNZ) March 16, 2019
The Indian High Commission also set-up a support group consisting of six people in Christchurch to assist the families of those accused.
A Support Group has been estd in #Chch to assist families:Dr. S.Sachdev 021476453Dr. A.Puri 0211218407Dr. V.Singh 0212371087Mr. Mohiuddin 211280040Dr. Diwaker 0273291026Mr. H.Reddy 0274922601@kohli_sanjiv @MEAIndia @SushmaSwaraj @BhavDhillonnz— India in New Zealand (@IndiainNZ) March 16, 2019
To assist those looking a cue on whereabouts of their near and dear ones, the India in New Zealand Twitter account shared round-the-clock helpline numbers for assistance in the time of grief.
Our helpline numbers (021803899 & 021850033) will remain available round the clock to assist families as we together cope with our shared grief. We deeply mourn loss of all other innocent lives including people of Indian origin. 2/3— India in New Zealand (@IndiainNZ) March 16, 2019
Soon after the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had written to New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern expressing his solidarity and said, hatred and violence have no place in diverse and democratic societies.
Ancy Ali from Kerala’s Thrissur who had migrated to New Zealand with her husband Abdul Nassar last year, was also killed in the attack, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a Facebook post on Saturday. Ancy lived near the mosques that were attacked, an officer at the Kodungalloor police station in Thrissur said.
Vijayan, in his Facebook post, termed as shocking, the news that a Kodungallur native was killed in the terror attack. "We have been trying to contact the embassy through Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA-ROOTS) to gather more information. We share the grief of the family," Vijayan said.
About 200,000 Indian and Indian-origin people live in New Zealand. Over 30,000 of them are students, according to the Indian High Commission's data available on its website.
Comments
0 comment