The bodies of victims from New Zealand's mosques mass shooting were carried in open caskets on the shoulders of mourners into a large tent at Christchurch's Memorial Park Cemetery- the first burials of the 50 victims. Wrapped in white cloth, the bodies were laid to face Mecca, and after jenazah (funeral) prays, were carried towards their freshly dug graves. “Seeing the body lowered down, it was a very emotional time for me,” said Gulshad Ali, who had travelled from Auckland to attend the funeral. Several mounds of dirt piled high marked the site of multiple graves which will be used for New Zealand's worst mass shooting.
Hundreds gathered to mourn, some men wearing a taqiyah (skullcap), others shalwar kameez (long tunic and trousers), while women wore hajibs and scarfs. The majority of victims were migrants or refugees from countries such as Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Somalia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The youngest was a boy of three, born in New Zealand to Somali refugee parents. The first two victims, father and son Khaled and Hamza Mustafa, came from war-torn Syria. "I cannot tell you how gutting it is...a family came here for safety and they should have been safe here," said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, visiting the city for the second time since the massacre.
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