‘Energetic and playful’ boy, 3, who died in his father’s arms and was the youngest victim of the mosque massacre is laid to rest in mass burial
- The youngest victim of the Christchurch Mosque massacre has been laid to rest
- Mucad Ibrahim, 3, died in mosque terrorist attack in New Zealand last week
- The ‘energetic and playful’ boy was among the group who were buried on Friday
Mucaad (pictured) reportedly ran from the attacker while his father and brother played dead
The youngest victim of the Christchurch Mosque massacre has been laid to rest.
Three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim was tragically killed when a gunman stormed the al Noor mosque in Christchurch and opened fire on the worshipers last week.
Mucaad was at the mosque with his father and big brother when the shooting began.
The ‘energetic and playful’ boy was among the group who were the final victims to be buried on Friday.
The small Somali-born boy with big brown eyes barely filled half his coffin.
Family members wearing dark robes carried his tiny body as he was laid to rest as part of the mass funeral at Christchurch’s Memorial Park.
More than 5000 mourners gathered at the cemetery for the funeral, which began at 4pm NZT (2pm AEDT).
The burial of 26 people is the devastating reality for a New Zealand community shattered by a terror attack.
Mucad Ibrahim (pictured left) was attending Friday prayers with his father and older brother Abdi Ibrahim (pictured right) when a gunman stormed the al Noor mosque
As well as the Christchurch burials, some have been farewelled in Auckland others will be expatriated.
The horrific shooting saw 50 people die and dozens more injured.
Friday’s funeral crowds stretched from a marquee reserved for prayers all the way to the freshly dug graves across the lawn cemetery.
Bodies shrouded in white cloth will be carried above mourners to their final resting places.
On the first and second day of burials, the funerals were conducted one or two at a time.
The sheer scale of Friday’s farewells means five or six funerals will be held at each time.
‘It is a very grieving time … most of you would have never seen this in your life,’ one man told the crowd, asking that mourners show each other kindness and unity in the tough moments to come.
Friday marks one week since the attack at two mosques in Christchurch
Muslims and non-Muslims have come together in the city’s Hagley Park on Friday -a week after a gunman stormed two mosques, killing 50 people and injuring dozens more – to take part in prayer
Another said it was a special time.
‘We don’t bury 26 of our beloved ones every day,’ he told the gathered crowds.
‘It’s going to be a very emotional process, it’s going to be a very tough process.’
The crowds rushing from Friday prayers and a memorial service outside Masjid al Noor, where 42 of the victims were slaughtered, caused traffic jams heading to the cemetery.
Burials were delayed because parents, siblings and other close relatives of those being buried have been unable to arrive ahead of the scheduled start of services.
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