Momina Cole was preparing to host her "baby brother" in Whangārei when she was informed he could not be found after the Christchurch terror attack.
What followed was a torrid five days of frantic search for her brother Ashraf Ali before news came through that he was one of 50worshippers shot dead in the Deans' Ave and Linwood mosques.
The owner of a taxi company in Wainibuku, just outside the Fijian capital Suva, Ali flew from Fiji to Christchurch about a week before the shootings.
The 59-year-old accompanied his Christchurch-based older brother Ramzan Ali for prayers and was in the front row when the gunman opened fire.
Ramzan Ali, who lived in Kamo and worked at Affco in Moerewa more than a decade ago, sat on a chair at the back of the prayer room at Al Noor Mosque due to a sore hip and hid behind a bench.
Members of the public pay their respect outside the Islamic Centre in Whangārei for those that died in the Christchurch shootings.
Photo/John Stone
He survived and together with Momina and her son, who both flew from Whangārei to the Garden City a day after the tragic events, began enquiring with emergency services for the whereabouts of Ashraf Ali.
"Soon after the events, my brother Ramzan rang me to say they couldn't find Ashraf. I thought he was joking but learnt of the tragic events later that afternoon," Momina Cole recalled.
"My son and I flew down to Christchurch the next day and we checked with police and the hospital but it was hard as there were two Ashrafs (Ali) from Fiji and another with the same name from Saudi Arabia."
She said notification of his death was confirmed on Tuesday, March 19, but his family members were not allowed to see or wash his body.
Ashraf Ali would ring his older sister two to three times each week from Fiji. Photo / Supplied
Families waiting patiently for the bodies of their loved ones were annoyed at the delay as it is tradition for a Muslim burial to happen as quickly as possible after death.
Ashraf Ali's body was among the first lot of bodies to be released and he was buried on Wednesday.
"I feel so sad my baby brother is gone. He used to ring me two to three times a week from Fiji and ask me how I was doing. He even rang me from Christchurch and said he would come to visit me in Whangārei," Momina Cole said.
"He was well-liked because he was very friendly to everyone. We will all miss him."
Momina Cole is overwhelmed by support towards the victims' families from emergency services, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Air New Zealand which covered her and her son's airfares to and from Christchurch.
She said such wonderful support from Muslims, not just in Christchurch, but at the Islamic Centre in Whangārei after the attacks has helped grieving families get back to normality.
Non-Muslim women line up to get inside the Islamic Centre in Whangārei during Friday prayers.
Photo/John Stone
Despite tight security, she said there was a palpable sense of fear among everyone in Christchurch to even walk to their nearest dairy or to attend appointments.
She had never been to Christchurch during her 19 years living in New Zealand and said she never thought she would visit the city to attend her brother's funeral.
She flew back to Whangārei on Sunday morning while Ashraf's daughter was supposed to return home to Melbourne yesterday.Momina's husband Bill Cole described his brother-in-law as a "happy-go-lucky" person who would be sorely missed.
