Six Indonesians were praying at Al-Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, when a gunman opened fire on worshipers on Friday. Three Indonesian men were able to escape the shooting, but the whereabouts of the other three remain unknown, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said in Jakarta on Friday. Along with the six Indonesian, other countries who had reported that their citizens were affected in the attack are Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia — though few victims have yet been named.
The minister has been coordinating with Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand Tantowi Yahya to monitor the situation. Furthermore, the minister has also made a statement,
"A team from the embassy has been dispatched to Christchurch to seek information on our people who happened to be in the mosque, particularly the three who still cannot be contacted."
The shooting occurred at 13:40 local time when Muslim men were performing Friday prayers at the mosque. An attack on two crowded mosques during Friday prayers left multiple people dead, police said as quoted by AFP, on what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as "one of New Zealand's darkest days".
According to Retno, there are 330 Indonesians living in Christchurch, 130 of whom are students. Witnesses spoke of seeing bloodied bodies, with children also believed to be among the dead, and police warned of "extremely distressing footage" of the incident circulating on the internet. Police said four people – three men and a woman – had been taken into custody, and that they had found and neutralized a number of improved explosive devices (IEDs).
What’s been known so far as an update is that 49 people are confirmed dead after the shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch — 41 people died at Al Noor mosque and 7 at Linwood mosque, while another victim died later at the hospital. The man charged for the murder is a 28-year-old Australian man named Brenton Tarrant who has appeared in court in Christchurch. The judge said on Saturday morning he expected more charges to be laid. No application for bail was made and he is due to appear in court again on 5 April.
Source: The Jakarta Post, The Guardian
Image: GEORGE HEARD/STUFF