49 People Were Killed in Christchurch Mosques Attack
at the date of
Saturday, March 16, 2019
At least 49 people were killed during Friday prayers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.Young children are among the 48 people wounded in the attack and are being treated for gunshot wounds. Forty-one people were killed at one mosque, and seven people were killed at the second mosque.
The victims of Friday's shooting included immigrants from Pakistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The suspects
Three men and one woman are in custody. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said none of them were on security watch lists.
A 28-year old man has been charged with murder. The attacker has not been named, but Australia's prime minister said he was an Australian citizen and described him as an "extremist right-wing violent terrorist."
The gunman live-streamed the assault on Facebook from a head-mounted camera, and the footage showed how victims were killed inside one of the mosques. The shooter broadcast the live footage after publishing a manifesto in which he called immigrants "invaders."
Prime Minister Ardern called the shooting a "terrorist attack," and authorities advised all mosques in Christchurch to shut down until further notice.
World reaction
The attack has been condemned across the globe, with leaders from Pakistan, Turkey, Britain, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Japan and the European Union sending their condolences and offering support to New Zealand.
Violent crimes rare
Mass shootings, and violent crime in general, are rare in New Zealand, a country of nearly 5 million people. The country's worst mass shooting was in 1990 when a lone gunman killed 13 people in the small town of Aramoana. (VOA)
