New Zealand Mosque Attack: Indian High Commission confirms 5 Indian victims in gunman attack

The Indian High Commission in New Zealand confirmed that five Indians were among those killed in the New Zealand mosque attack in Christchurch. Some news reports have placed the number of Indian victims at seven but it has not been confirmed by authorities.

Fifty people were killed and 50 injured in what is New Zealand's worst attack, when Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, opened fire at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques during the Friday prayers. The police added that the arrested Australia-born 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, was believed to be the lone gunman in the attack.

"With a very heavy heart we share the news of loss of precious lives of our 5 nationals in ghastly terror attack in #Christchurch," Indian High Commission's tweet read mentioning the names of those who died.

The deceased have been identified as Maheboob Khokhar, Ramiz Vora, Asif Vora, Ansi Alibava and Ozair Kadir.

One of the victims who migrated to New Zealand last year with her husband Abdul Nassar was killed in the Christchurch terror attacks and was confirmed by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a Facebook post.

"Death of Anshi Karippakulam (27) has been confirmed and her family has been intimated," said a top police official.

Vijayan, in his Facebook post, termed as shocking, the news that a Kodungallur native was among those who were killed in the terror attack in New Zealand.

"We have been trying to contact the embassy through Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA-ROOTS) to gather more information. We share the grief of the family," Vijayan said.

According to reports, the woman was pursuing her MTech at a university there.

In another tweet later, the High Commission informed that Immigration NZ has set up a dedicated webpage to expedite visa for family members of Christchurch victims. (https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/media-centre/news-notifications/family-members-of-mosque-incident)

On Friday, shortly after the attack, India’s High Commissioner in New Zealand Sanjiv Kohli had tweeted that “there are 9 missing persons of Indian nationality/origin”. But, he had added, official confirmation was awaited.

The high commission said its helpline numbers — 021803899 & 021850033 — will remain available round the clock to assist families of those affected by the attack.

(with inputs from PTI and News18)