A youth from Hyderabad aspiring to become a commercial pilot was among the 50 people killed in the mass shooting that took place at two mosques in New Zealand. He is the third man from Telangana confirmed dead.

25-year-old Ozair Khadir, a resident of Noor Khan Bazar area in Hyderabad’s old city, was in the list of Indians named by the Indian High Commission in New Zealand as those who died in the Christchurch attack.

Khadir, who was undergoing training of commercial pilot in Christchurch, was at Al Noor mosque to offer Friday prayers when a terrorist opened fire on March 15. Initially he was listed missing but later the authorities confirmed that he was among the dead, leaving the family crestfallen.

Khadir's family members said his elder brother Omair Khadir, a commercial pilot in Singapore, rushed to New Zealand and was making arrangements to bring the body back home. Their parents, who live in Saudi Arabia, were also heading to New Zealand.

Relatives said Khadir, the second of four siblings, was born in Saudi Arabia. He wanted to become a pilot like his elder brother and had gone to New Zealand a year ago.

Besides Khadir, 31-year-old Farhaj Ahsan, a software engineer from Hyderabad and 35-year-old Imran Khan, a restaurateur hailing from Karimnagar district, were also killed in the attack.

Ahsan's parents and in-laws have left for New Zealand for his burial there. Khan's family members, who live in the US, have also rushed to New Zealand. Ahmed Iqbal Jahangir, also from Hyderabad, was injured in the attack and is recovering in a hospital in Christchurch. His condition is said to be stable.

Witnesses said there were around 400 people in the Al-Noor Mosque at the time of the attack and they ran for their lives after hearing gunshots. Around 100 were there in Linwood Avenue Mosque, the second mosque targeted.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the killings a terror attack and one of New Zealand's darkest days.

IANS inputs