Reports say 9 persons of Indian nationality/origin are missing after the incident took place. An Indian-origin man, Ahmed Jehangir, who is believed to be a native of Hyderabad, was among those who were shot in New Zealand's Christchurch today. The information which has not yet been confirmed by the Indian authorities was tweeted by Asaduddin Owaisi, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party president. He has requested Telangana CM Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao and the Ministry of External Affairs to make necessary arrangements for the distressed Khursheed family to visit New Zealand.
Mohammed Khursheed, brother of Ahmed, told The News Minute that the latter had been living in New Zealand for the past 12 years. “He went for his Friday prayers. Two of his friends were killed in the attack. My brother himself is struggling for his life. We are not able to get any proper news about what is happening over there. He has a wife and two children; one aged 3 and one aged 5," he said.
In today’s savagery, at least 49 people were killed in attacks on the Al Noor Mosque in central Christchurch and the Linwood Mosque in the city's outer suburb, in a country that has never witnessed an incident of this nature.
It also appeared to be the worst attack on Muslims in a western country.
Expressing shock over the incident, the mission tweeted two contact numbers 021803899 and 021850033 for providing assistance.
"We are shocked to hear about the shooting in Christchurch. Any Indians needing assistance should contact us at 021803899 or 021850033," the Twitter account of the Indian High Commission in New Zealand said.
"Our prayers go out to everyone who is affected. Help us spread the word. Stay safe!!" it said.
At the time of publishing this article, there were no reports of any Indian affected in the incident .
Approximately 200,000 Indian and Indian-origin people live in various cities of New Zealand. There are over 30,000 Indian students in the country, according to the Indian High Commission's data on its website. In the year 2016, more than 10,500 Indians came to New Zealand on long-term visa.
5 important things to know
- Calling it “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”, the country’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the events in Christchurch represented "an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence" and saidmany of those affected may be migrants and refugees. It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack," said Ardern.
- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that one of the four people detained by the police in Christchurch was an Australian-born citizen.
- Christchurch Police Commissioner Mike Bush said that a man had been charged with murder. He did not mention the other three suspects and did not specify whether the same shooter was responsible for the twin attacks.
- The police commissioner warned anybody who was thinking of going to a mosque anywhere in New Zealand on Friday to stay put. He said police had found two improvised explosive devices in one car, a clarification from an earlier statement that there were devices in multiple vehicles, news agency AP reported.
- The perpetrator of the heinous crime claimed he came to New Zealand only to plan and train for the attack. He said he was not affiliated to any organisation, but had donated to and interacted with many nationalist groups, though he acted alone and none of the groups directed him to orchestrate the attack.