The Christchurch terror attacks death toll has reached 50 which includes seven people from Indian background; a father-son duo and three others of Gujarati background are among the dead.
Maheboob Khokhar, 65, Asif Vora, 56, Ramiz Vora, 28, Hafiz Musa Vali Patel, 52 and Junaid Kara, 38, a New Zealand national with Gujarati background were among those who visited mosques on Friday afternoon and lost their lives in the terror attack by a lone gunman.
Asif Vora, from Vadodara, in Gujarat visited his son Ramiz as his daughter-in-law had just delivered a baby girl few days ago. She was to be discharged from the hospital on Friday and Arif and Ramiz went to attend prayers at the mosque before completing the discharge formalities. They were among those killed in the gunfire.
Source: AAP Image/AP Photo/Mark Baker
According to The Times of India, Asif's elder son Rahil lives in Australia and he rushed to Christchurch after hearing the news. Family members approached Vadodara MP Ranjan Bhatt to expedite the processing of their visas for New Zealand. Asif's brother Mohsin Vora and the parents of Ramiz's wife were granted visas the next day.
Maheboob Khokhar, 65, another victim, was a retired manager at the Gujarat power station and was visiting Christchurch. It was Maheboob's first time visit to his 27-year-old son Imran Khokhar who had migrated to New Zealand in 2010.
Akhtar Khokhr, 58, shows a picture of her husband Mehaboobbhai Khokhar. Source: AAP Image/AP Photo/Vincent Thian
On Friday, Imran just dropped off Maheboob at the Al Noor mosque and was in the parking lot when he heard the gunfire. He has heard no news about his father. He said authorities had also refused to allow him inside the hospital. Later, Imran found out that his father passed away.
Maheboob and his wife Akhtar Begum went to New Zealand three months ago and they were supposed to fly back to Ahmedabad on Sunday, according to Reuters.
Tajuddin Pawar, a friend of Maheboob Khokhar in Gujarat told Ahmedabad Mirror that he was a humble and jolly man who would never miss offering namaaz. Before leaving, he told his friends at the local mosque in Ahmedabad that he would not be around for some months.
Hafiz Musa Vali Patel, 52, another victim from Bharuch, Gujarat was grievously wounded in the shooting. He died after fighting for almost 20 hours in hospital.
Hafiz's brother Haji Ali Patel told news agency ANI that Hafiz and his wife went to the mosque to offer prayer when he was shot in the back. Patel migrated to Fiji 35 years ago and was a priest in a mosque in Lusaka city. He got permanent residency of New Zealand 15 days ago and was staying with his elder daughter in Christchurch, according to the Times of India.
Junaid Kara, 38, an Indian origin man originally from Gujarat was also among the victims. Junaid, a New Zealand national migrated from India several years ago.
Mourner paying their respects near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch. Source: AAP Image/AP Photo/Vincent Yu
Accodring to The Times of India, Piyush Desai, MLA from Navsari said, Junaid and his family were widely respected because of their service to the welfare of the village.
Working with various agencies to support victims
Rehanna from Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand told SBS Gujarati, "We have management in Christchurch who are providing support to the victims and community. The association is also working with various government agencies and hospitals to help the community."
"We had Vice President of Turkey; Fuat Oktay visit Christchurch and went to see injured in the hospitals. The whole world is in grief after the incident. Repatriation of the bodies will start soon after completing formalities," said Rehanna.
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