Nobody was imagining in peace-loving New Zealand such situation may arise: Father of victim

When Farhaj Ahsan, 30, left his Christchurch home he shared with his wife Insha Aziz, 3-year-old daughter and 7-month-old son to attend Friday morning prayer, his family members did not know they were seeing him alive for the last time. The software engineer was among 8 Indians or persons of Indian-origin who were killed when an Australia-born gunman stormed two mosques in New Zealand and killed 50 people.

Ahsan, who moved to New Zealand a few years ago from the city of Hyderabad, where his parents still live. The Indian High Commission Sunday said five Indians had been killed in the attack by a 28-year old man who reportedly targeted immigrants.

It identified them as Maheboob Khokhar; Ramiz Vora; Asif Vora; Ansi Alibava; and Ozair Kadir. An Indian consulate official in New Zealand when contacted through an emergency number said Ahsan was listed missing soon after the attack. He said Ahsan was not an Indian citizen now.

"Ahsan used to hold Indian passport in the past," the official said. Ashan did his master's degree at the University of Auckland in 2010 before settling in Christchurch.

Friends supporting Ashan's wife at the couple's Christchurch home said she was not accepting he was among the dead in the mosque. His family had been informed of his death by the New Zealand authorities, his brother Kashif told the BBC.

"Nobody was imagining in New Zealand - which is a peace-loving country - such situation arises," his father Sayeeduddin told BBC Telugu. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted on Saturday night that Ahsan had passed away.

Indian-origin Musa Vali Suleman Patel, 60, a leader of the Fiji Muslim League, also died at the Linwood Mosque. He was visiting Christchurch with his wife. Mohammad Imran Khan, 47, was also killed in the attack. Khan's family has roots in India. He owned two restaurants in Christchurch.

(With inputs from agencies.)