The nation paused this afternoon to remember those killed in the Christchurch terror attack with two minutes of silence.

The solemn moment was preceded by the broadcast of the call to Friday prayers, the Jumu'ah, from the service being conducted in Christchurch’s Hagley Park, opposite the Masjid Al Noor mosque.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attended the service, and welcomed people by quoting the whakatauki of an Islamic prophet, that believers are one body, and when any part of the body suffers, the whole body feels pain.

She told the congregation New Zealand mourns with you, we are one.

Al Noor imam Gamal Fouda told the thousands gathered that the 50 worshippers who dies in the March 15 attack were not just martyrs of Islam but martyrs of this nation New Zealand.

He thanked police and frontline services, the neighbours who opened their doors to save people from the killer, the drivers who stopped to help, and New Zealand for showing the world what it means to love and care.

There’s a vigil in Auckland Domain at 6pm organised by Migrants Against Racism and Xenophobia, and a vigil at the Imam Reza Mosque in New Lynn from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.
 

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