Five Indians dead in New Zealand massacre

Five Indians have died a day after a white supremacist terrorist massacred 49 people and injured nearly 20 others at two mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand.

A woman from Kerala and two residents from Telangana are among those killed, families of the victims said on Saturday.

Anzi, 25, of Kodungalloor in Thrissur district, central Kerala, was reportedly killed while her husband, Nazar, escaped with minor injuries.

Anzi, daughter of Ali Bava of Kodungalloor, had gone to New Zealand about a year ago and was doing her post-graduation in agriculture. Nazar was working at a supermarket in Christchurch, according to local sources.

Nazar, who rang up the family on Saturday evening to inform Anzi’s death, said he escaped unhurt as other worshippers fell over him while Anzi suffered bullet injuries and died in the mosque itself.

Victims from Telangana

Mohammad Farhaj Ahsan from Hyderabad, who was reported missing after the attack, was declared dead, according to his family members here on Saturday. “We have just received the message from the New Zealand authorities that Ahsan passed away in the shooting,” his brother Khasim Khan told reporters.

Ahsan, a resident of Tolichowki area in Hyderabad, had migrated to Christchurch six years ago and was working as an engineer. A couple of years ago, he shifted his wife and kids to Christchurch.

Ahsan had gone to Al Noor Mosque for Friday prayers but did not return home after the firing. Terrified by the TV visuals, his wife, Insha Aziz, mother of two, informed his father, Mohammad Sayeeduddin, and mother, Imtiaz Fatima, about the incident.

Karimnagar resident Imran Ahmed Khan, son of Masood Ahmed Khan, who resides in the US, also died in the carnage at Masjid Al Noor mosque. His uncle Manzoor Ahmed Khan, owner of Al-Manzoor Marriage Hall in Karimnagar town, said that Imran moved to New Zealand in 2002 and married a New Zealand girl. Imran runs a restaurant in the country.
The condition of another Hyderabadi, Ahmed Iqbal Jahangir (30), who was injured in the firing, is said to be stable.

‘Missing citizens’

Sanjeev Kohli, New Delhi’s envoy to Wellington, said the High Commission had been in touch with New Zealand authorities about the five “missing” citizens of India. Kohli posted on Twitter that two Indian citizens had been injured in the incident and they had been recuperating in a hospital. The “missing” also included two PIOs or People of Indian Origin.

Other south Asians dead

Two Bangladeshis and six Pakistanis have also perished in the Christchurch attack. The governments of both countries confirmed the deaths on Saturday.