Christchurch death toll

Shooting victims’ bodies to be returned to families by Wednesday

Fifty people are now known to have been killed in the New Zealand mosque shootings as the bodies of victims begin to be returned to their families.

An Australian man remains the only person to have been charged in connection with the attacks at two mosques in the city of Christchurch on Friday.

Brenton Tarrant, 28, appeared in court on Saturday charged with murder and was remanded until April 5. Police said further charges would follow.

New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said he would not be ruling out the possibility of further suspects “until we are absolutely convinced as to how many people were involved”.

Two people arrested after the attacks were not believed to have been involved, police said, with one released and another charged with a separate offence.

Another person was taken into custody “due to evidence collected during the investigation” but there was “no information to suggest” they were linked to the attacks, police added.

On Sunday, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the process of returning the bodies of those killed to their families would begin that evening.

“It’s likely to be a small number to begin with,” said Ms Ardern.

“It’s the expectation that all bodies will be returned to families by Wednesday.”

A 50th body was discovered at the Masjid Al Noor mosque on Sunday morning, with victims believed to range in age from children to the elderly.

Thirty-four people remain in hospital with injuries, 12 of them in intensive care. A four-year-old girl taken to Starship Hospital in Auckland remains in a critical condition.

Tarrant appeared to have livestreamed the terror attack and outlined his anti-immigrant motives in a manifesto posted online.

Ms Ardern said her office was one of more than 30 recipients of an emailed copy of the manifesto just nine minutes before guns were fired.

“It did not include location. It did not include specific details,” she said.

“Within two minutes of receipt it was conveyed directly to parliamentary security. Had it provided details that could have been acted on immediately it would have been, but unfortunately there were no such details in the email.”

On Sunday, Facebook said it had removed 1.5 million videos of the attack worldwide in the 24 hours after the shootings, 1.2 million of which were blocked at upload.

Mia Garlick, of Facebook New Zealand, said: “We continue to work around the clock to remove violating content using a combination of technology and people.”

Ms Ardern has vowed to change the country’s gun laws in the wake of the shooting spree.

Of those killed in the massacre, 42 died at the Masjid Al Noor mosque on Deans Avenue in central Christchurch, seven were killed at the suburban Linwood Masjid Mosque, and one person died at Christchurch Hospital.