Burials for the 50 people killed the New Zealand terrorist attack have begun in Christchurch as the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, returned to the city to pay her respects and comfort those affected by the killings.
On Wednesday, father and son Khaled and Hamza Mustafa, who arrived in New Zealand as refugees from Syria, were the first victims to be buried. The prime minister told reporters: “I cannot tell you how gutting it is to know that a family came here for safety and for refuge, and they should have been safe here.”
Earlier, police said they planned to release most of the bodies back to their families by Wednesday night, with Ardern promising to work with authorities to see if the coronial process could be sped up in future to comply with Islamic burial rites. » | Calla Wahlquist and Eleanor Ainge Roy in Christchurch | Wednesday, March 20, 2019
