ADVERTISEMENTNew Zealand officials said at least one body would be returned Sunday night, and that all 50 should be back with their families by Wednesday. “It’s a massacre, what else do they need to know?,” Sheikh Amjad Ali, an assistant school principal who had travelled from Auckland to help with the funeral arrangements, told AFP about some frustrations with the wait. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a “small number” of bodies would be returned to families from Sunday evening. “Our sole focus is to get their loved ones back and to follow the cultural traditions such as the washing and shrouding of their loved ones, and we have made premises available to carry out these sensitive cultural issues,” he said. Earlier, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to New Zealand, Abdul Malik, told AFP that six Pakistani nationals were confirmed among the dead and three nationals remained missing.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 17, 2019 06:33 UTC