'Horror and anger' in Christchurch hospital as medics battle to save lives

On Sunday, 34 patients remained in the hospital, twelve of them in critical condition.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) - In a city battered by quakes, Christchurch’s medics were tragically well-schooled in tackling mass casualty events -- but none could have prepared for the injuries unleashed by a white supremacist with assault rifles bent on mass murder.

Doctors, surgeons and nurses have been working around the clock at Christchurch Hospital since Friday’s mass shooting at two mosques, frantically trying to stem bleeding, patch up shattered bodies and save lives.

On Sunday, 34 patients remained in the hospital in Christchurch, twelve of them still in critical condition.

Another of the injured -- four-year-old girl Alin Alsati -- was in intensive care at a specialist children’s hospital in Auckland.

Greg Robertson, the chief surgeon at Christchurch Hospital, spoke on Sunday of the sheer magnitude of Friday’s massacre.

"Horror, stunned, anger," he said, describing how his team of doctors, nurses and surgeons felt as the wounded poured in -- initially in private cars and then in an ever-increasing stream of ambulances.

This is not the first time the city has dealt with mass casualties.

A series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 killed more than 180 people and left many more injured, honing the medical skills of the city’s doctors to deal with a sudden influx of complex wounds.

"I don’t think there’s any doubt the earthquake did have a bearing on it -- the old adage practice makes perfect works on a lot of things and that’s part of our processes," he said.

But he admitted the horrifying, man-made nature of the latest tragedy had a much greater psychological impact on staff.

"The earthquake was something that we couldn’t control,’ he said. "It’s the fact that someone has done this to our people, our friends, our colleagues, this is just unbelievable."

Brutal ammunition

The kind of injuries surgeons were facing this time around were also particularly horrifying.

Robertson said his teams do sometimes encounter gunshot wounds but never on such a scale.

New Zealand usually witnesses only 50 murders a year. Suddenly one town had that many people murdered in a single day and dozens more wounded -- some struck by multiple bullets.

Many of those brought to the hospital have been in and out of operating theatres multiple times, as surgeons prioritise the worst parts of the injuries -- such as stemming the bleeding, clearing blocked airways, trying to save limbs -- before dealing with the less severe wounds.

First responders and paramedics played a crucial role.

"I guess that’s reflected in the fact we’ve had only one death in a patient that arrived at the hospital. Those who got here, have a chance," Robertson said.

It is likely Pakistani national Mohammed Amin Nas only survived because of the paramedics.

His son Yasir Amin told AFP they encountered the alleged assailant -- Australian national Brenton Tarrant -- driving outside the Al Noor mosque.

"He took out this big gun and just shot at us as we were running," Yasir said.

His father was struck four times. Yasir called emergency services who spent 10 minutes treating his father where he lay before rushing him to hospital.

He has been into surgery three times and remains in intensive care.

On a normal day, Christchurch would have three acute surgery theatres operating. On Sunday, seven were up and running with people working around the clock.

Tarrant appears to have chosen ammunition designed to cause maximum trauma, Robertson said.

"These are not something that goes through," he said, referring to the type of bullets. "We’ve got a lot of fragments, shotgun injuries."

He said those treating patients would inevitably have their own traumatic memories.

"There will undoubtedly be, as we saw after the earthquakes, a delayed mental stress type response to this whole thing."

For now, he said, people were focused on saving lives. But colleagues would keep a close eye on each other in the weeks ahead.

"Most people are coping with things pretty well when you’re doing things," he said.

"It’s when you go home and you think about it, that’s when the issues start to declare themselves."

Tensions rise over burials of New Zealand shooting victims

The first bodies from the Christchurch mosque massacres were due to be released late Sunday amid growing frustration from victims’ families over delays in getting their remains for burial

Islamic custom dictates that the deceased should be buried within 24 hours, but authorities said the complex investigation into the massacre of 50 worshippers during Friday prayers made a quick process difficult.

New Zealand officials said at least one body would be returned Sunday night, and that all 50 should be back with their families by Wednesday.

"It’s a massacre, what else do they need to know?," Sheikh Amjad Ali, an assistant school principal who had travelled from Auckland to help with the funeral arrangements, told AFP about some frustrations with the wait.

"The families are sad but they are getting a bit frustrated. The reasons of their deaths are known ... why not release those who have been identified," he said.

"I’m not going to talk against authorities because they have their own rules and regulations, but they are balancing between the culture and religious views and the local laws."

Ali said it was difficult for relatives to know that the bodies had been lying in the mosques for more than a day.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a "small number" of bodies would be returned to families from Sunday evening.

"It is the expectation that all bodies will be returned to families by Wednesday," she told reporters, adding that six disaster recognition experts from Australia were helping out with the identification process.

Police Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha said the attacks were "totally unprecedented in our history" but that his officers were "working very hard" to support the families.

"Our sole focus is to get their loved ones back and to follow the cultural traditions such as the washing and shrouding of their loved ones, and we have made premises available to carry out these sensitive cultural issues," he said.

Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall added that every precaution needed to be taken to avoid any errors.

"There could be nothing worse than giving the wrong body to the wrong family," she said.

Earlier, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to New Zealand, Abdul Malik, told AFP that six Pakistani nationals were confirmed among the dead and three nationals remained missing.

At least two families had also requested that the bodies of their loved ones be repatriated to Pakistan, a process that could take up to 10 days, he said.

"The Muslim tradition is that the body should be buried as early as possible. But this is not a normal circumstance," he added.

Outside a meeting between authorities and victims’ relatives about the burial arrangements, a large group of Bangladeshis held up signs with the words "Please help us find Zakaria Bhuiyan" and "How long do we have to wait now?".

"They are not telling us anything," Bhuiyan’s friend Kaniz Fatima told AFP, adding that the 30-year-old’s name was not on a preliminary list of victims given to families late Saturday.

He was believed in the Al Noor mosque near Hedley Park at the time of the shootings.

"We want some confirmation that he is dead, alive or in emergency. We have been waiting here for the last two days and some have not eaten or slept.

"We understand these procedures take time. But at least give us a time frame," she pleaded