More than $7.4mln donated to help families in NZ shooting

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, March 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – More than NZ$10.8 million ($7.4 million) in public donations has been received so far to help families of the 50 people killed in New Zealand’s mosque shootings, according to a pair of fund-raising websites.

A support fund on New Zealand site GiveaLittle.co.nz had received
NZ$8,271,847 from more than 91,000 donors as of Sunday, while LaunchGood.com, a global crowdfunding platform focused on Muslims, had netted NZ$2,546,126 from over 40,000 donors.

The slaughter of 50 people at Friday prayers in two Christchurch mosques
on March 15 shocked the normally laid-back country and prompted global
horror, heightened by the gunman’s cold-blooded livestreaming of the
massacre.

Since then, New Zealanders have responded with an outpouring of support
for the country’s small Muslim community.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last week that the
country would cover the costs of burying the 50 victims as well as
“repatriation costs for any family members who would like to move their loved ones away from New Zealand.”

The attack also left dozens of people injured, some critically.

Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian white supremacist, was arrested
within minutes of the massacre and has been charged with murder.