New Zealand mosque shooting: Christchurch victims officially named as first funerals take place

New Zealand police have formally released the names of some of those killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings, as the first funerals of victims took place.

The first two people to be buried following the attacks that killed 50 people were a father and his son, 44-year-old Khalid Mustafa and Hamza Mustafa, 15.

The teen was a student at Cashmere High School and was compassionate and hard-working, according to principal Mark Wilson. Hamza was an excellent horse rider who aspired to be a veterinarian, Mr Wilson said.

His younger brother, Zaed, 13, suffered gunshot wounds to the leg and attended the burial in a wheelchair. The family had fled the Syrian civil war and moved to New Zealand last year, having been told it was “the safest country in the world”, local media reported.

On Wednesday mourners carried the bodies to a a specially-constructed grave site where hundreds gathered to watch.