Arab victims of New Zealand mosque shooting rise to 14

CAIRO - 16 March 2019: The death toll of Arab expatriates among the victims of the deadly mass shootings in mosques of New Zealand’s Christchurch rose to 14 Arabs.

Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that four citizens were killed and 6 others were injured in Christchurch shootings, adding that two other Palestinian are missing.

Other Arab nationals include four Egyptians, four Jordanians, one Syrian refugee, and British-Saudi citizen.

Egypt announced four nationals are among the victims of the deadly mass shootings. New Zealand’s authorities notified the Egyptian embassy that four Egyptian expatriates were killed in the shootings, Egyptian ambassador Tareq al-Wiseimy told the Egyptian Ministry of Migration on Saturday.

The dead bodies of the Egyptian nationals will be sent back home on Tuesday, he added, noting that embassy had contacted the victims’ relatives.

The Egyptian victims include Munir Suleiman (68 years), Ahmed Hamal al-Din Abdul Ghani (68 years), Ashraf Morsi, and Ashraf Al-Masri, according to a statement from the Ministry of Migration on Saturday.

Australian citizen Brenton Tarrant (28) opened fire randomly at worshipers inside Al Noor Mosque in the city of Christchurch and anther mosque, killing more than 50 people and injured dozens.

The shooter strapped a GoPro camera to his head and broadcast his massacre live on his twitter account, which is now suspended. He was charged with murder by the Christchurch District Court, Reuters reported.