Aspiring Hyderabad pilot Ozair Khadir killed in Christchurch

Hyderabad, March 18 (IANS) A youth from Hyderabad aspiring to become a commercial pilot was among the 50 people killed in the New Zealand mosques attack. He is the third man from Telangana confirmed dead.

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

Farhaj Ahsan and Mohammed Imran Khan are the other two men from Telangana killed but their names did not figure in the list.

Khadir, who was undergoing training of commercial pilot in Christchurch, was at Al Noor mosque to offer Friday prayers when a terrorist opened fire.

Initially he was listed among the 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, second of the 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, Ahsan, 31, a software engineer from Hyderabad and Imran Khan, 35, a restaurateur hailing from Karimnagar district, were identified as the dead.

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.