A former Fijian resident and his family who live half a kilometre from the two mosques targeted by shooters in Christchurch, New Zealand, yesterday are safe.

The whole of Christchurch was in a lockdown after the shooting.

Nand Kishore, a taxi driver who lives at Digby Place in Linwood, said everyone in Christchurch was shocked with what happened.

“Schools and all workplaces, everything was closed after the shooting. But it was cleared after a few hours following the arrests of some suspects,” he said.

Mr Kishore, who is from Lautoka and has been living in Christchurch for the past 20 years, said it was the first time that something like that happened in the region.

His 10-year-old son Kris was locked down with other students, including some former Fiji residents, at Linwood Avenue School.

“We picked him up later in the afternoon. My older son who works for a courier company and my daughter who works at the airport are also safe and home now,” he said.

Mr Kishore said he was aware that some former Fiji residents were also injured while attending prayers at the mosques.

He said media reports in New Zealand showed that some of the shooters had been arrested by the Police.

“It is being said that one of them had posted on Facebook that something will happen, but I don’t know how far that’s true,” Mr Kishore said.

Linwood is an inner suburb of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It lies to the east of the city centre.

New Zealand Police yesterday said at least four people had been arrested and several bombs were found after the shootings yesterday at the two mosques in Christchurch that left 49 dead.

The mosques attacked were the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Avenue and the Linwood Masjid on Linwood Avenue.

Edited by Epineri Vula