Reacting to Disaster
Christchurch Tragedy
“Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideas”. — Gladstone
CONVERSATION AT AL NOOR MOSQUE (PICTURE, SNPA/DAVID ALEXANDER)
I
t’s been nearly 12 months since the Christchurch Tragedy shocked the world. Fifty-one people died in attacks targeting Muslims at two mosques during Friday prayers in Christchurch. As the one year anniversary approaches Simon Manning, Funeral Disaster Response Team Co-ordinator looks at how we respond to tragedies in our communities. New Zealand was shocked at how the events that occurred in Christchurch on 15 March 2019 could occur here in our own country … our country, which we believe is safe for everyone, no The Muslim matter what race or creed of people we are. community was
well organised and grateful for what we were doing at all times.
The events unfolded very quickly and I, like all of us, became aware of the event on the Friday afternoon. I immediately contacted the FDANZ member companies in Christchurch, offering the support and assistance of the Funeral Disaster Response Team though not really knowing how we would have to respond.
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Over the weekend, contact was established with John Rhind Funeral Directors and Lamb & Hayward to ascertain how things were unfolding. It was decided to deploy a team to Christchurch, and Neil Little and myself arrived on the Monday morning. Dealing with different cultures and religions is what we do on a daily basis, but the numbers and cause of death meant we would be facing challenges that none of us had faced before. Every deployment is different and while planning is important, flexibility to adjust plans is vital for deployments to be a success. The decision to use Lamb & Hayward as a base from which to work had been set in place on Sunday afternoon. The main reason was that their facilities were better suited to the sort of response we were dealing with. The Police had also requested that we use a single venue because they would be providing security, and having the cases split around different funeral homes would be problematic for them. The Muslim community was well organised and grateful for what we were doing at all times. Their generosity towards us while they
