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Photos: Heartbroken New Zealanders mourn mass shooting

by in News

  • Mourners pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

  • Mourners pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

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  • Mourners pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019, where one of the two mass shootings occurred Friday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

  • A woman reacts as she sits near the wall with floral tributes at the Botanical Gardens, Saturday, March 16, 2019, Christchurch, New Zealand. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

  • Mourners paying their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque, Saturday, March 16, 2019, Christchurch, New Zealand, where one of the two mass shootings occurred. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

  • A woman who lost her husband during Friday’s mass shootings cries outside an information center for families, Saturday, March 16, 2019, in Christchurch, New Zealand. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

  • In this photo released by New Zealand Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, center, meets representatives of the Muslim community, Saturday, March 16, 2019, at the Canterbury Refugee Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand. (New Zealand Prime Minister Office via AP)

  • Mourners hug as they pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019, where one of the two mass shootings occurred Friday.(AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

  • A message is displayed at a makeshift memorial outside Christchurch hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019, one day after the mass shootings at two mosques in the city. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

  • Mourners pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019. People across New Zealand are reaching out to Muslims in their communities and around the country the day after mass shootings at two mosques that left dozens of people dead. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

  • Mourner pay their respects at a makeshift memorial outside Christchurch hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019, one day after the mass shootings at two mosques in the city. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

  • Mourners react as they pay their respects at a makeshift memorial outside Christchurch hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019, a day after the mass shooting at two mosques. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

  • Police stand by a collection of flowers near the Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019, where one of the two mass shootings occurred. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

  • A handwritten message is placed at a collection of flowers left near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019, where one of the two mosque mass shootings at occurred. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

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Heartbroken New Zealanders lit candles and placed flowers at makeshift memorials set up in the city of Christchurch in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history.

Some mourners hugged their neighbors, while others stood in solemn silence at sites in the city center, not far from the two mosques where Muslims gathered for Friday prayers were mowed down by a racist gunman.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the shooter, an Australian native, had chosen to strike in New Zealand “because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion.”