Sunday, 24 Nov 2024

Youngest New Zealand terror victim, 3, ‘ran for his life’ as death toll hits 50

Toddler Mucad Ibrahim has been named as the youngest victim of terrorist Brenton Tarrant.

Little Mucad, three, is believed to have been mown down running for his life as the white supremacist went on the rampage, killing 50 worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The lad’s dad and brother only survived by hitting the ground and playing dead.

Mucad’s grief-torn family last night paid tribute to him as a boy who was “energetic, playful and liked to smile and laugh a lot”.

His brother Abdifatah Aden told how he ran out of the Masjid Al Noor mosque as fast as he could after the shootings, rushing to hospital in the hope all his family would be there.

But he later posted a touching picture of himself and Mucad on Facebook saying: “Verily we belong to God and to Him we shall return. We miss you dearly brother.”

Tarrant, 28, live-streamed his 17-minute murderous rampage to Facebook from a shoulder-cam on Friday. He picked off defenceless worshippers at the Masjid Al Noor and Linwood Masjid mosques, even as they pleaded for their lives.

Yesterday it emerged 36 people were still in Christchurch hospital, 11 in a critical condition – with the youngest survivor a one-year-old boy. Other children are still missing.

Among the dead was hero Haji Daoud Nabi, 71, who sought asylum in New Zealand in 1977 after fleeing Afghanistan with his two sons.

He was trying to shield a fellow worshipper when shot. His son, Omar Nabi, 43, said: “I got told he jumped in the firing line to save somebody else’s life. Forgiving is going to take time.”

Grieving Dr Khurshid Alam confirmed his brother Naeem Rashid, 50, and nephew Talha Rashid, 21, were among those killed. They had emigrated from Pakistan 19 years ago.

It is understood Naeem died of his wounds after trying to wrestle a gun from the shooter.

Dr Alam, speaking from Pakistan, said: “I’ve heard from people who said he saved a few lives by trying to stop that guy. I wish I could die like him. It’s our pride now, but still the loss – it’s like cutting your limb off really.”

Tarrant’s rifle had the message “Refugees Welcome to Hell” scrawled on it in white writing. Many victims were refugees, including Syrian Khaled Mustafa – killed months after fleeing torture and death in his home country. One of his sons, Hamza, 16, is missing, while another, Zaid, 13, is in hospital.

Abdulrahman Hashi, 60, a preacher at a mosque in Minneapolis, revealed his four-year-old nephew, Abdullahi Dirie, was killed.

Sayyad Milne, 14, is also understood to be dead. He was described as a good-natured “typical Kiwi kid” with dreams of being a footballer.

Husne Ara Parvin, 42, was shot when she tried to save her wheelchair-bound husband Farid Uddin.

Atta Elayyan, 33, a goalkeeper for New Zealand’s national futsal team – a variation of football – is also feared to be dead. Paying tribute to him, Dave Payne, a chief official with NZ Football, said on Facebook: “Next time you racist p***ks want to be cowards come knock on my door!

“If you ever want to find a greater kiwi, father, husband and community member, Atta Elayyan is your man.”

Palestinian-born engineer Ali Elmadani, 66, is missing as is fellow countryman Haroon Mahmood, 40, a married dad of two who worked at Canterbury College private school. Linda Armstrong, 65, is said to have been cradled in the arms of an injured woman before she died. A friend told how she had sponsored a boy from Bangladesh, and said: “Linda was like a child about everything. She was always excited to do a good deed.”

Meanwhile, more details emerged about killer Tarrant – who smiled as he appeared in court yesterday charged with one murder.

Barefoot and with his hands chained to his waist, he made a white power sign with his fingers.

Family sources say Tarrant developed a “severe addiction” to violent video games like World Of Warcraft and Grand Theft Auto – playing them “day and night”. Tarrant’s mum is an English teacher from New South Wales, Australia, and his dad Rodney was an avid marathon runner.

But the parents split up and Rodney took his own life at 50 while battling cancer. Tarrant found him dead.

In 2016 Tarrant visited Turkey twice and last year he is said to have spent time in Dubai, Pakistan, North Korea, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

He settled in New Zealand, joining a gym in Dunedin and the Bruce Rifle Club in South Otago. After obtaining a firearms licence last November, Tarrant began buying weapons. When police arrested him on Friday, he had five firearms, including two shotguns and two semi-automatic rifles.

Ahead of the massacre he wrote a 74-page hate-filled manifesto detailing his warped ideology. It also emerged that Tarrant had expressed praise for Darren Osborne, 49 – the man who drove a van into worshippers at North London’s Finsbury Park Mosque.

Osborne, from Cardiff, was jailed for murdering Makram Ali, 51, in June 2017. He committed the atrocity after watching BBC drama Three Girls, about the Rochdale sex scandal. That echoed one of Tarrant’s reported motives for his attack in Christchurch.

Among slogans on his ammunition were the words “For Rotherham”. It was believed to be a reference to the South Yorkshire sex abuse scandal in which 1,400 girls suffered at the hands of men mainly with a Pakistani heritage.

Government extremism adviser Imam Qasim Rashid Ahmad yesterday said extremism in the UK “is ever-growing” and “many far-right terror plots have been foiled”.

Read More

New Zealand mosque killings

  • At least 49 people killed in massacre
  • First picture of suspected gunman
  • YouTuber responds to gunman ‘praise’
  • Killer’s chilling manifesto
  • Mosque hero tackled gunman
  • Gunman ‘chased terrified child’
  • Meghan and Kate’s emotional message
  • Everything we know so far

Source: Read Full Article

Related Posts