Updated March 23, A woman who lost her father in last week's Christchurch shooting at the Al Noor mosque says she wants to find and thank the two women who rescued her sister-in-law and baby niece. Fazia Abdukadir travelled from the United States to New Zealand to support her family after they were caught up in the attacks, which left 50 people dead.
Her father Elmi Abdukadir, 66, was killed β but five other members of her family managed to flee the mosque. On the way to bury her father at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Christchurch, Ms Abdukadir approached the ABC to ask for their help in identifying two women who were driving by the mosque as the attacks took place.
Ms Abdukadir's sister-in-law saw the bodies of two friends as she fled and was terrified of being followed. Ms Abdukadir said her mother, who has been left a widow, is desperate to find the women who came to the rescue. Ms Abdukadir's father was one of 26 victims β including the youngest, 3-year-old Mucad Ibrahim β who were buried on Friday at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Christchurch. Mr Abdukadir brought his family to New Zealand about seven years ago from Somalia and they settled in the Christchurch suburb of Halswell.
Speaking from a stage set up in Hagley Park opposite the mosque, he called for all world leaders to come together to fight against hate speech. We have to fight against that all together," she said. Topics: terrorism , police , religion-and-beliefs , grief , new-zealand.
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