Canterbury mosque is inviting people of all faiths to join it for its Friday prayers in the wake of the New Zealand shootings.

Fifty people were gunned down in terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday afternoon.

Almost 40 others were taken to hospital following the shootings.

Canterbury mosque, in Giles Lane, responded to the tragedy by opening its doors to the public to show solidarity with those affected.

And at 1.15pm on Friday afternoon it will welcome hundreds of people from across the district for prayers at the University of Kent.

Imam Ihsan Khan said: “We’ll be having the first Friday prayer hosted on the University of Kent campus.

“We’re planning on trying to accommodate people from across the community there.

"There will also be other religious and community leaders there to say a few words.

“The whole point of it is to show what the people who lost their lives were doing when they were killed.”

Ihsan says Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield is also expected to attend at about 3.45pm.

He is expecting more than 500 people to gather for the event.

“We’re wanting to get as many people as possible to come to show we’re all part of the same community,” he continued.

“By coming together and standing together we can show there is no need for hatred and that we can get rid of it by simply sitting down and having conversations.”

Ihsan says the police has also been in regular contact with the mosque since the attack to “make sure we’re all safe”.

A suspected white supremacist was charged with murder for the Christchurch shootings on Friday. Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, was remanded without plea. He will return to court on April 5.

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