An Afghan man, thought to be in his 60s or 70s, died after he reportedly ran into the line of fire on Friday to save fellow worshippers at the Al Noor mosque in central Christchurch.
Daoud Nabi had lived in New Zealand for more than 40 years after fleeing Afghanistan as a refugee in the late 1970s, and believed his adopted home to be a “slice of paradise”, said his son Omar. Omar learnt his father had died after trying to shield someone else from a bullet.
“I got told by my best friend’s father... that he leaped on somebody else to save their life,” he told Stuff.co.nz. “He jumped in the firing line to save somebody else’s life and he has passed away.”
Sayyad Milne, 14, died at the Al Noor mosque which he attended with his mother and friends every Friday, The New Zealand Herald reported. “A brave little soldier. It’s so hard... to see him just gunned down by someone who didn’t care about anyone or anything,” his father John said.
The last time Mucad Ibrahim, aged three, was seen alive was at the Al Noor mosque with his brother and father. His brother Abdi managed to flee the carnage while his father pretended he was dead after he was shot and managed to escape, The Age said. Mucad has not been seen since the shooting.
Mr. Abdi said his family — who had been to Christchurch Hospital and looked through the list of people there — thought his brother had most likely died at the mosque.
