VICTIMS of the New Zealand terror atrocity have been hailed as heroes after giving up their lives to save others around them.
Naeem Rashid has been honoured after video footage of the mosque attacks in Christchurch which killed 50 people showed him apparently trying to tackle the gunman before he was shot.
READ MORE: Why we should respond to the Christchurch attack with compassion
The 50-year-old and his 21-year-old son Talha who was also killed moved to New Zealand from Pakistan in 2010.
Rashid’s brother, Khursheed Alam, yesterday spoke of his pain and pride from his home in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
“He was a brave person,” Alam said. “I wish I could die like him. It’s our pride now, but still the loss – it’s like cutting your limb off really.”
Another victim, 71-year-old Daoud Nabi, is believed to have thrown himself in front of others to save them from the hail of bullets.
One of his sons, Yama Nabi said he had arrived 10 minutes late for prayers on Friday at the Al Noor Mosque to find the horrific crime scene.
At first he thought his father was still alive as a distraught friend repeatedly told him: “Your father saved my life.”
READ MORE: Mosque attacker's far-right references to history
Two mosques were attacked on Friday and an Afghanistan refugee has been praised for trying to tackle the terrorist at the Linwood mosque preventing more deaths.
Abdul Aziz, 48 hurled a credit card machine – the first thing he could find – at the attacker when he saw him trying to enter the building. Latef Alabi, the acting imam, said the death toll would have been far greater if it hadn’t been for Aziz’s bravery.
Alabi said he heard a voice outside the building at about 1.55 pm and saw a man in black military-style gear and a helmet brandishing a large gun.
“I realised this is something else. This is a killer,” he said.
He yelled at his congregation to get down but Aziz ran outside yelling, hoping to distract the gunman. He hurled the credit card machine at the gunman who fired at him but Aziz dodged the bullets by running between parked cars. He then picked up an abandoned gun but finding it was empty he lobbed it at the gunman who appeared to take fright and drove off.
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