Christchurch prepares burials for victims of the bombing

Dozens of graves were being prepared on Monday in a Christchurch cemetery to house the remains of victims of the carnage in two of its mosques, while impatience rises among families who claim the bodies.

Muslim custom provides for the burial of the body within 24 hours of death. Medical examiners said they hoped to be able to satisfy the families quickly, while stressing that they should proceed with caution in their investigation of the carnage.

While New Zealand is still trying to understand how the worst massacre of Muslims in a Western country in recent history could have occurred in this so-called peaceful archipelago, examples of acts of heroism or forgiveness surfaced. 

Farid Ahmad, who lost his wife Husna, 44 years old, killed while helping to save the faithful, refuses to fall into hatred for the carnage's author, Brenton Tarrant, a "fascist" self-proclaimed who explained this massacre and the two years of its preparation in a long "manifesto" Islamophobe of 74 pages.

Husna is one of four women among the victims aged 3 to 77, according to a still incomplete list. Several victims were native to the region but several others were immigrants from distant countries such as Egypt or Jordan.

Asked if he forgave the killer, Farid Ahmad replied, "Of course, the best thing is forgiveness, generosity, love and affection."

This tragedy has caused a shock wave in New Zealand, a country of five million inhabitants of which 1% say they are Muslim, renowned for its tradition of hospitality.

Mrs Ardern will meet on Monday with her cabinet to discuss a possible tightening of weapons legislation.

The government must also take cognizance of the findings of the intelligence services on how an Australian not hiding his fascist sympathies was able to obtain such an arsenal of weapons without attracting the attention of the authorities.

For his part, Brenton Tarrant, who had made Saturday the mark of recognition of the white supremacists, announced, through his assigned lawyer, his intention to ensure his own defense against Justice.

Ardern revealed Sunday that his services had been recipients of the "manifesto" of the killer, nine minutes before the carnage began.

"It did not include any specific locations or details," she added, adding that the document had been sent to the security services within two minutes of receiving it.

Searches in Australia 

The moving tributes to the memory of the victims have multiplied in Christchurch, New Zealand and around the world.

"We stand alongside our Muslim brothers and sisters," reads a large banner near one of the city's sites where flowers are piling up in an improvised memorial.

A haka, a traditional Maori dance, was performed Sunday with great emotion by a gang of New Zealand motorcyclists.

Although the authorities have urged residents to resume the course of their lives, the archipelago remains on alert.

Police closed the Dunedin airport on Sunday night for a few days, the town 300 km southwest of Christchurch where Tarrant lived. But it turned out that the suspect package that was discovered there was not dangerous.

New Zealanders pay tribute to the victims of an attack near a mosque in Christchurch on March 17, 2019

In Australia, police raided Monday two homes near Grafton, the locality of the state of New South Wales (south-west) where the shooter grew up.

"The primary objective is to formally obtain elements that can help the New Zealand police in its investigation," said the Australian police in a statement.

Backhoe loaders 

In New Zealand, victims' families no longer hide their frustration over the waiting for the remains, to the point that the authorities had to justify themselves on the procedure.

"We do a scan of all the deceased, their fingerprints are taken, we remove the items they were carrying or had on them," said the "chief coroner" Deborah Marshall, who leads the investigation, stating that he Dental impressions and autopsies were also required.

Mrs Ardern however announced Sunday that all the bodies would have been returned Wednesday. An AFP journalist saw workers and backhoe loaders working Monday morning in the Christchurch cemetery, although it is not yet clear exactly when the first funeral will take place.

Abdul Aziz, Australian of Afghan origin, is celebrated as a hero for fleeing the killer of Christchurch on March 17, 2019

The authorities also reported that 34 wounded remain hospitalized. Among them, four-year-old Alin Alsati, between life and death, after being hit by at least three bullets while she was with her father in the al-Nour mosque. His father, a Jordanian also injured, had recently immigrated to New Zealand.

The death toll could have been even higher had there not been acts of heroism like that of Abdul Aziz, an Afghan-born Australian who was with his four children in the Linwood Mosque when he rushed to the shooter.

Social networks in the hot seat 

After hearing one of his sons shout for shelter in the mosque, Abdul grabbed an empty rifle from the killer, shouting "Come over here!" in order to move it away from the mosque.

"I just wanted to save as many lives as possible, even to lose mine," he told AFP. Abdul Aziz continued to pursue the gunman who was fleeing by car before being stopped.

Social networks are also blamed for the live broadcast, Friday on Facebook, for long minutes, the carnage filmed by its author.

The American group managed to delete the 17-minute video. But it had previously been shared many times on YouTube and Twitter.

In a statement, Mia Garlick, a Facebook official in New Zealand, said her group had removed 1.5 million videos of the attack in the first 24 hours, "of which more than 1.2 million were blocked during of their download ".

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old was indicted Monday morning in Christchurch for relaying the video but also for posting a photo of the mosque al-Nour with the mention "target reached" and for incitement to violence.