Two football lovers – a schoolboy and a coach – were laid to rest today, at the latest funeral for victims of New Zealand’s worst shooting.
Sayyad Milne, 14, and Tariq Omar, 24, were buried following an emotional ceremony at the city’s Memorial Cemetery shortly before midday today.
Security for the burials was high, with armed police wearing Islamic headscarves guarding the cemetery gates, while volunteers helped organise the sombre ceremony for a large crowd of mourners.
A police officer stands guard with a rose to pay respect at the service for Sayyad Milne, 14, and Tariq Omar, 24 in Christchurch on Thursday
New Zealand Police will maintain a presence at the funerals of victims, as well as both mosque sites, for safety and reassurance
Sayyad Milne, aged just 14, dreamed of playing as a goalkeeper for Manchester United before he was killed
Mourners carry the casket of Sayyad Ahmed Milne, 14, the eighth funeral of the 50 victims of the mosque shootings, at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Christchurch on Thursday
Their short lives were brutally stubbed out while they took part in Friday prayers at the Al Noor Mosque.
The two funeral processions arrived just after 10am, with the victims’ bodies carried by family members to a marquee where prayers were conducted in Arabic.
The distraught father of school-boy Sayyad, fought back tears as his young son was honoured and his body was carried to his final resting place.
Sayyad, who grew up in Corsair Bay near Christchurch, was described as ‘kind, caring, loving, a brave hunter lion’ by his father, who read an emotional letter while his family tried to comfort him.
‘My special little one who had to battle just to live right from the beginning. He was meant to be. Now there is a bigger hole in my heart than the one that bullet blew out of the exit point of it. He is a battler.’
He then went on to tell the story of his son’s short life, saying Sayyad nearly died twice during his 30-hour birth.
‘You should see how he hunts a ball as a goalkeeper. He has, is and will make a tiny mark on people’s hearts,’ he said.
‘That’s just the beginning of all that will be said of him.
Mourners proceeded with the coffin of 24-year-old Tariq Rashid Omar victim of last Friday’s mosque shooting, for burial after a funeral prayer at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Christchurch on Thursday
Local bikie groups arrive at Thursday morning’s funerals to pay their respects, with several more burials expected to be carried out today
‘My little ice baby. Sayyad we love and miss you. Thank you for who you are.’
Sayyad’s mother and younger brother Shuyab were among the first to file past his coffin.
Mr Milne told how football-mad Sayyad had dreamed of playing for Manchester United as a goalkeeper.
Sayyad’s football coach Tariq Omar was described by friends as kind and humble natured.
Both victims were closely linked to Christchurch’s Cashmere School where teenager Sayyad studied and where Tariq, a football coach, had also been a student.
Hundreds of mourners gathered to pay their respects to the two football fans as a light drizzle fell upon the cemetery, which is 2.5 kilometres away from Linwood Mosque, where the gunman targeted worshippers last Friday.
Security around the area was high, with armed police guarding the cemetery gates, while volunteers helped organise the large crowd of mourners.
Mourners at Thursday’s funeral of 14-year-old Sayyad Ahmed Milne, who was laid to rest alongside his soccer coach
A mourner in a wheelchair is assisted by police and a medical team while attending Wednesday’s funerals
They are the seventh and eighth of the 50 victims killed by a gunman in the mosque attacks to be laid to rest, following six burials on Wednesday.
More funerals are to come today after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Wednesday that 30 bodies have now been formally identified and could be released to families.
Haju Hafiz Musa Patel – a father of five who was visiting Christchurch with his wife – is among those being farewelled today.
There had been mounting frustration within the community over the slow process of identifying and releasing the victims’ bodies, which was delaying burials.
Under Islamic funeral rites, burials customarily occur within just one day of the death.
Thousands of mourners are set to gather in Christchurch on Thursday evening, with churches of all denominations meeting in Latimer Square at 6pm.
Relatives and other mourners arrive to attend the burial ceremony of the victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks, with eight of the 50 victims laid to rest so far
Up to 20,000 people are expected to attend Dunedin’s vigil at 8pm on Thursday night, meaning the ceremony had to be moved due to the overwhelming numbers.
On Wednesday, refugees Khaled Mustafa, 44, and his high school student son Hamza, 15, were laid to rest.
Zahid Mustafa, 13, watched on while his older brother and father were buried, and was overheard saying ‘I don’t want to be here alone.’
Zahid was also in the mosque on the day in question and was shot in the legs, and is currently wheelchair bound while he recovers.
The talented farrier father and his son, also a student at Cashmere High School, were buried next to one another at plots 87 and 88.
The refugee family moved to New Zealand last year, finally settling in a safe haven after fleeing Syria and spending time in Jordan.
Twenty-nine people injured in the attack remain in hospital, eight in a critical condition.
Preparations have begun to reopen the mosques at the centre of the attacks for tomorrow’s Friday prayers.
Al Noor Mosque, where 42 of the 50 fatalities occurred, is expected to open in time while police are also hopeful the community can return soon to the Linwood mosque.
Zahid Mustafa, 13, who watched on while his older brother and father were buried on Wednesday, is confined to a wheelchair while he recovers after being shot in the legs in last Friday’s mosque attack