CHRISTCHURCH: Aright-wing extremist has been charged over Friday's horrifying gun attacks ontwo New Zealand mosques, which left 49 people dead and dozens more injured. Theworshippers and their families caught up in the attacks in the normallypeaceful city of Christchurch came from around the world. Here are some oftheir stories:
The Afghan whoran into gunfire
An Afghan man,thought to be in his 60s or 70s, died after he reportedly ran into the line offire to save fellow worshippers at the Al Noor mosque in central Christchurch.Daoud Nabi had lived in New Zealand for more than 40 years after fleeingAfghanistan as a refugee in the late 1970s, and believed his adopted home to bea "slice of paradise", his son Omar told AFP.
Omar learnt hisfather had died after trying to shield someone else from a bullet. "I gottold by my best friend's father... that he leaped on somebody else to savetheir life," he told Stuff.co.nz. "He jumped in the firing line tosave somebody else's life and he has passed away." Another of Daoud'ssons, Yama, was on the way to the mosque -- to make up with his father after asmall falling out -- when he bumped into a friend outside who told him "yourfather saved my life. Your father saved my life", according to Australiannewspaper The Age.
It wasn't untilYama re-watched the gunman's video of the rampage -- which he streamed onFacebook Live -- and saw his father lying dead on his back that he realized hisfather did not escape. "I never thought it would happen in New Zealand.It's a peaceful country," Yama Nabi said, tears welling up in his eyes.There were reports on social media that Daoud Nabi had opened the door to theterrorist, greeting him with the words "hello brother".
The 14-year-old'brave little soldier'
Sayyad Milne, 14,died at the Al Noor mosque which he attended with his mother and friends everyFriday, the New Zealand Herald reported. His father John Milne said his deathhadn't been officially confirmed but he'd been told the teenager had been seenlying on the floor of the mosque, bleeding. "I've lost my little boy, he's just turned 14," he told thepaper, adding that his son had been a keen footballer. "A brave littlesoldier. It's so hard... to see him just gunned down by someone who didn't careabout anyone or anything."
Thethree-year-old still missing
The last time MucadIbrahim, aged three, was seen alive was at the Al Noor mosque with his brotherand father. His brother Abdi managed to flee the carnage while his fatherpretended he was dead after he was shot and managed to escape, The Age said.Mucad has not been seen since the shooting. Abdi said his family -- who hadbeen to Christchurch Hospital