Christchurch mosque shootings: Daughter's desperate plea -- "I just want news about my Dad"

Christchurch graphic designer Maha Elmadani is waiting for news about her father Ali Elmadani who was at the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Avenue yesterday.

The Christchurch man, a retired electrical engineer, has not been seen or heard from since the attacks.

Maha said the family was desperate for any information on the man she described as "gentle and kind."

"I just want news about my dad so I can have peace of mind and notify my mum," she said.

"I don't know if he is in the hospital or if he is dead inside the mosque."

The family lives in Christchurch but Maha has been travelling in Palestine.

She was devastated by the news and said her father would never have imagined anything like this happening in New Zealand.

"That's why he chose to call Christchurch home," she said.

"It was supposed to be a tolerant and safe city."

She was trying to arrange a flight home as soon as possible.

The family of Christchurch man Ali Elmadani are desperate for news of the missing man. Photo / supplied

The Elmadani family were just one of dozens still waiting for news of loved ones injured and killed in the act of terrorism.

A friend of a young woman listed as missing said, they too, were desperate for news.

The woman's husband had been able to run from the Masjid Al Noor Mosque to safety but the woman was injured.

"He saw her on the street and there was a pool of blood but he had to go, it was not safe," the man said.

"He is devastated, he can't talk. We are going back to the hospital in hope she is one of
the people injured who are still not identified."

He did not want to identify the woman because they had not told her family of the possibility she was dead.

So far 49 people have lost their lives in the shootings at the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Ave and the Linwood Masjid, on Linwood Ave on Friday.

Forty-one people died at the Deans Ave mosque, while seven died at Linwood and one in hospital.

Eighty-seven people turned up at Christchurch Hospital yesterday after the massacre across two mosques in the city, and three others presented at other community clinics.

Last night there were 17 people unidentified. It is understood that through the night more people had been identified and that number had been reduced to 6.

The man said he had been told the people could not be identified because of tubes in their noses and mouths.

"We are hoping she is one of them."

The main shooter has been identified by Australian police as Brenton Tarrant — a white, 28-year-old Australian-born man, who uploaded to his Twitter account, before the shooting, a manifesto explaining his intentions.

Two of the three other people apprehended yesterday remain in custody.

The fourth person was found armed at the scene but didn't appear to have had anything to do with the killings.

A large police presence remains in Christchurch, and a heightened police presence can be expected at community events nationwide for safety and reassurance.