Burials

Burials at the Memorial Park Cemetery for the victims of the mosque attacks have now been completed.

Forty-one victims were buried at the cemetery.

The other nine victims were either repatriated to their country of origin or sent to other parts of New Zealand for burial.

National Remembrance Service

• A National Remembrance Service will be held in Christchurch’s Hagley Park this Friday at 10am.
• The service is being jointly led by the New Zealand Government, the city of Christchurch, Ngāi Tahu and the Muslim community.
• The details of the service, including broadcast arrangements and order of service, will be announced later in the week.

Media accreditation needed for National Remembrance Service

New Zealand Police have confirmed that all media who wish to cover the service will need to be security vetted.
Every person seeking accreditation must provide the following information to VCOmedia@dia.govt.nz no later than 12pm Tuesday 26 March 2019:
• Full name (Surname, first name, middle name)
• Date of birth
• Home address
• Place of birth
• Gender
• Driver’s license number (Passport details if not from New Zealand)
• Name of employing agency
• Role – e.g. reporter, camera operator, photographer etc
• Any alternate names individuals are known by

Requests received after 12pm Tuesday 26 March, or that are incomplete, may not be accepted for processing.
Accredited media will be issued with a media ID pass by officials. To obtain your media pass, media will need to bring photo ID (Agency Photo ID and passport or drivers licence).
Please note that only accredited media will have access to the restricted media areas. Media who arrive at the venue, and who have not been accredited, will not be granted access.
Conditions for accreditation:
1. By submitting your details you agree to Police carrying out a vetting check.
2. Media ID passes must be displayed at all times.
3. Failure to display the Media ID and produce photo ID when requested by NZ Police or event officials, or failure to follow instructions from NZ Police or event officials, will result in immediate expulsion from the restricted area and the cancellation of accreditation
4. Access to restricted media area is for the purpose of recording the service only in line with accepted journalistic practise. Activity outside accepted journalistic practise will result in expulsion from the restricted area and the cancellation of accreditation.

MEDIA SET UP AND BREIFING
Further details of the service will be provided as soon as possible. Due to space constraints and anticipated high media interest, we request your media contingent is kept as small as possible.

The service will be broadcast live by TVNZ. TVNZ will provide the live feed to national and international media. Further information on this will be provided shortly. Considerations are being given to simultaneously broadcasting the service to events in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin and providing links for events in other towns and cities.
Media need to arrive at 0830 to collect media passes and have ID checked. Any media that arrives after 0915 will not be granted access to the restricted media area.

Media will be provided a full briefing for the service on the ground.

Floral tributes
• We have been encouraging people to lay flowers and pay their respects on Rolleston Avenue along the Botanic Gardens frontage.
• A number of media have been inquiring about what will happen to the flowers. The following statement can be attributed to Botanic Gardens Director Wolfgang Bopp. “The Council is in the process of making plans for collecting and archiving flowers and tributes left at Rolleston Avenue and other sites across the city. This work is being supported by the University of Canterbury and the Canterbury Museum. It is important that what happens with the floral tributes long term is led by the Muslim community. We will wait for their guidance and hope to have further conversations with them in the coming weeks before making a final decision.’’

Lei of Aloha for World Peace
This morning (Monday, 25 March) a Lei of Aloha for World Peace was presented to the city of Christchurch. You can find more information about this here.

Ways to show support

• The Christchurch Foundation has set up the Our People, Our City Fund to raise money for the ongoing support of the families and Muslim communities. People can contribute at most banks, or by bank transfer to the foundation’s bank account: The Christchurch Foundation 15-3976-0091104-80.

The foundation will work with Muslim communities to distribute the fund.

• People wanting to offer practical assistance to those affected by the mosque shootings can call the Christchurch Council Contact Centre on 941 8999 (or 0800 800 169) or email info@ccc.govt.nz. Staff will record all offers of assistance and make sure they get to the right place.

• Food voucher donations are also much appreciated. These can be delivered to the main counters at the Council Civic building at 53 Hereford Street or any Council Service Centre.

More details about how people can help are here.

Road closures
• The cordons around the Al Noor and Linwood mosques were lifted at the weekend.

ends

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