this is bbc news. i'm ben bland. our top stories: the main suspect in the killing of 49 people in new zealand has appeared in court charged with murder. further charges are expected. new zealand's prime minister vows to change the country's gun laws after it's revealed the weapons used in the attack were obtained legally. — that gun licence he was able to legally acquired the guns that he held. that gives you an indication of why we need to change our gun laws. the city of christchurch is in mourning, coming together to lay tributes to the victims. many sports and social events cancelled. this was, as i understand it, a deliberate decision to target our

city and our country because we are a safe city and a safe country. hello and welcome to bbc world news. let's go live now to christchurch where we are getting an update from the hospital about those who are injured in that attack on two mosques in christchurch. by calling oi’ mosques in christchurch. by calling or texting 1737 trained counsellors are available when you need them. with that i will hand over to greg robertson, the chief of surgery and greg was the senior clinical lead activating and leading the clinical response to the tragic events of yesterday. greg, i invite you over

and once he has finished we will be quite happy to take any questions that you may have. firstly, can i reiterate davids comments. myself and my colleagues would like to pass on our heartfelt thoughts to the victims and their families. as on our heartfelt thoughts to the victims and theirfamilies. as david has indicated, as a consequence of the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 we are the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 we a re u nfortu nately the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 we are unfortunately used to mass casualty incidents and our staff and oui’ processes are casualty incidents and our staff and our processes are experienced in dealing in such events. christchurch

hospital continues to provide care for 39 patients injured in the attacks of terror in christchurch yesterday. of the 48 patients admitted to christchurch hospital from the incident, seven have been discharged. the others included a four—year—old girl who has been transported to the starship hospital in auckland in critical condition. four patients died on their way into the hospital yesterday. dying before they arrived. those injured ranged in ages from the very young to quite elderly patients. the majority of patients admitted were male and in the age range of 30 to 40. some are ina the age range of 30 to 40. some are in a stable condition but others are not. 12 operating theatres worked through the night and many of those injured will require multiple returns to theatre before their care will be completed. 0f

returns to theatre before their care will be completed. of the 36 patients that remain in the hospital, 11 are in intensive care units including one female aged in her mid— 20s. all of those in icu are what we would consider critically ill. the 36 in hospital also include two children that remain within our care. both are boys. 0ne remain within our care. both are boys. one is aged two and the other is aged 13. both are in a stable condition. as it would expect, the wounds from gunshots are often quite significant. we have had patients with injuries to most parts of the body ranging from relatively superficial soft tissue injuries to more complex injuries involving the chest, abdomen, pelvis, long bones and the head. many of the people

will require multiple trips with the complex series of injuries they have. there is usually notjust one system involved and we are using all of our surgical services and specialties to deliver care for the patients as they need it. thank you. your name please and spelling? greg robertson. chief of surgery could we get the numbers of the patients in hospital 39? 39 is the get the numbers of the patients in hospital39? 39 is the number. we count 39. can you tell us, dealing with gunshot wounds this must be

something that on a large scale is quite unusualfor something that on a large scale is quite unusual for surgeons to deal with. how difficult was it? without a doubt it is unusual for surgeons in this part of the world to deal with gunshot wounds. the way that we manage these patients and the processes is that we have generally had experience while overseas in dealing with trauma. we also get experience in our own environment for a limited number of these events. clearly we do not face the extreme load that this incident put on our services extreme load that this incident put on oui’ services at extreme load that this incident put on our services at the time. it is a skill mix that we expect our orthopaedic and plastic surgeons, neurosurgeons to accommodate and deal with. extremely difficult on a large scale. correct. yes. so we needed to tree arch and deal with patients. the worst with the most

significant injuries were dealt with overnight and we are still working through the next level of tree arch ca re through the next level of tree arch care through today —— triage care. did you realise straightaway how serious this would be? yes. i was in the hospital yesterday. i was in the outpatient building where we are now meeting. i was in our offices on the top floor and the first that i was aware of it was that there were ambulances and fire and then gunshot well, not gunshots but armed policeman entering the hospital. how many doctors have you had working? look, pretty well every member of staff has been involved and, to be frank, the service they have

provided has been absolutely fantastic. i am exceptionally proud of the way that our staff have dealt with this situation. from everyone in the hospital, the administrators through to the staff involved with the care of patients, at every level people have done things in an exemplary form. are you saying that all 39 patients are out of danger or do you believe the death toll will rise? we cannot predict what will happen with those patients but clearly the high risk ones are those in 1950 there at the moment. —— in intensive care at the moment. did

you have any students working? the junior students were, in a large part, not exposejuvie... i guess you could describe it as carnage, that came through our doors yesterday. these were junior doctors and more senior doctors. lovely, we have seen things that have been terrible in the earthquake and from my perspective, this isjust terrible in the earthquake and from my perspective, this is just another of those type of event. u nfortu nately we a re of those type of event. unfortunately we are too experienced at this. that was gary robertson, the head of surgery at christchurch hospital. that was an update from the hospital. the chief of surgery running through the latest on those who were caught up in that attack on the two mosques. he said that there

we re the two mosques. he said that there were 39 patients injured and still in hospital. in total. that is the number they currently have that they are treating, 39. 48 had been admitted to. seven have been discharged. he mentioned that a four—year—old girl was transferred to another hospital for specialist treatment and he also said that four patients died on their way to the hospital. when asked about the kind of injuries he said there was a range of injuries. some people suffering superficial soft tissue injuries right through to more complex injuries he described involving the chest, abdomen and the head and went on to say that most will need surgery of some sort. he spoke about how he was proud of the way that staff handled the situation, in his words, he described it as the carnage they we re described it as the carnage they were faced with and the horrific

injuries that were coming through the door of the hospital when those patients arrived. so to recount, 39 patients arrived. so to recount, 39 patients still in hospital and being treated for their injuries in christchurch. a man has appeared in court in christchurch charged with murder in connection with the terror attack on two mosques. 28—year—old australian brenton tarrant did not make a plea during the brief appearance, which was closed to the public due to safety concerns. it comes as new zealand's prime minister says gun laws will change after the shooting which left 49 people dead. hywel griffith reports from christchurch.

why has this happened? why? why. i wa nt why has this happened? why? why. i want my daughters to come home and see what happened to my husband. due to find him, to bury him? yes. as soon as possible as soon as possible. when the shooting began, people fled, looking for safety as armed police searched the city streets. worshippers say the gunmen shot indiscriminately, walking from room to room, sparing no—one in his path. i was hearing shooting after shooting after shooting. it went on six minutes or more and i could hear screaming and crying and i saw some people drop dead. my father was shot trying to save somebody. he leapt over the person he was trying to save.

he is 71 years old. a man identifying himself as australian—born brenton tarrant livestreamed the attack on facebook. earlier he had published a 73 page document full of anti— islamic hatred online as well as images of his weapons with slogans scrawled on them by hand. the attack targeted two mosques in christchurch. at around 1.40 local time, police responded to reports of shots being fired at the al noor mosque in the city centre. at least 41 people were killed here. the second shooting was a short drive away at the linwood mosque where at least seven people were killed with another dying in hospital. police also defused several explosive devices attached to a vehicle. i heard and saw what i thought were firecrackers and i saw young fellas running down the street

and then all of a sudden it got quite violent and i thought that is not firecrackers. and they started falling. 0ne fell to the left of my car and one fell to the right and the guy on the street was trying to ring his wife. and the other guy was in bad shape but i could not reach him because that is where the gunfire was coming from. and the guy i was compressing, he was trying to phone his wife and i managed to get it and i answered the phone and i told her that your husband has been shot outside the mosque. don't come here, please go to the hospital and wait for him and i kept talking to him and telling him that she was at the hospital waiting and he was not to give up. and we kept pressure on until we got him some help. the manhunt through christchurch eventually ended with a car being rammed by police and a suspect being wrestled to the ground. four people had been

arrested, one has now been released. we never assume that there are not other people involved and that is why we have an immense presence out there across canterbury and right across new zealand. but we do not have named or identified people we are looking for. it would be wrong to assume that there is no—one else. the city's emergency services remain on high alert. the hospital in christchurch has been treating dozens of people with gunshot wounds and is closed to all other admissions. a new day has started here with more armed officers arriving on the streets of christchurch to try and give the community some sense of security. across the country mosques have been told to close their doors and for the first time ever the country's terror threat has been raised to high. new zealand's prime minister swiftly condemned the shootings as an act of terror.

and reassured the country's small muslim population that they should not have to live in fear. many of those who will have been directly affected by this shooting may be migrants to new zealand. they may even be refugees here. they have chosen to make new zealand their home and it is their home. they are us. the person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. the deep sense of shock felt in new zealand has echoed around the world. messages have been sent from the queen, the pope and donald trump. new zealanders are astonished that this could have happened. you don't think something like this could have happened in new zealand, in christchurch of all places. we are a small community, kind and loving so i don't know why someone would hurt us like this in such a way. just like an animal. why would you treat us like that?

in times of such sorrow there is little that can comfort people today as they confront the question of how such violent extremism could have been allowed to fester here. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we'll have more on the victims and communities targeted in the terror attack in christchurch. today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by

an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. this was an international trophy and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: taking you straight back to christchurch with the police chief

mike bush is giving an update. fire and emergency services, civil defence, defence, victim support, council, all of those other agencies are working so closely together and i will ask them to make a brief statement each to you, if they so desire. in terms of how all we continue to focus on this matter, you would have heard this morning that one offender a 28—year—old male, has been charged at this stage with one count of murder. he has been remanded to the high court for the fifth of april. and what charges he faces then will be determined by this investigation. you have heard today how many victims are involved.

and again, we are giving every support possible to them. i also wa nt to support possible to them. i also want to thank all of the religious leaders, the imams who have travelled here to give their support. to the people that have been so seriously affected by this incident. now, iwant been so seriously affected by this incident. now, i want to turn and off all of my colleagues who the opportunity to say something the conclusion of that i, or others, will answer any of the questions that you have if i can. thank you. john? thank you. ijust want that you have if i can. thank you. john? thank you. i just want to reiterate the commission's approach was a multi agency approach, the first responders that responded to this tragedy did an outstanding job. i want to reassure the community that we have heroes every single day, we come to work to keep them safe. i day, we come to work to keep them safe. lam day, we come to work to keep them safe. i am committed to the reassurance of the cattery community to bring peace to our streets. thank

you. thank you, john. good afternoon, (unintelligible) st john ambulance. my call takers, dispatches and ambulance crews did yesterday in what was a horrific situation and their ability to triage and transport so many patients so quickly and effectively saved lives and ijust want to put on record my pride and thanks to the fantasticjob working alongside the police the ambulance service yesterday. thank you. the ambulance service did yesterday. thank you. yesterday. thank you. the ambulance service did yesterday. thank youlj am service did yesterday. thank you.” am slicks, the city council are here on behalf of the bearer of christchurch lianne dalziel, and wa nt to christchurch lianne dalziel, and want to reiterate from the city point of view, we are working with all of the agencies and we are working hard with the agencies —— mayor of. the communications line is very clear. the focus of the city at the moment is especially around the victim support, working with the

families who are grieving from the events that have happened, this tragic event that has happened in our city so really, the message at the moment is we are working with those families and those victims to make sure that they have the right support. there is a place where people can go and lay flowers if they wish, which is outside on about -- (patchy audio) botanic they wish, which is outside on about —— (patchy audio) botanic gardens, anyone can go there and laid a flower and pay the rest of the people who were lost but that is basically the message we have from the city at this time. paul anderson, fire aeruginosa, fire new zealand, just reiterate the thoughts that have been given, our role has been primarily to (patchy audio) we have been involved with some of the calls that have been taken, we are working together with the other agencies and it has been exceptionally good particular from this particular building where we all worked together and i must

reiterate the comments to all of the staff who have been involved have been magnificent. thank you. (patchy audio). defence role he is to support the new zealand police... support new zealand police and whatever they require from us. good afternoon, canterbury civil defence emergency management. we have provided volunteers and the community who have worked with st john, particularly with mass casualties support roles, at the hospital in particular. we have also set upa hospital in particular. we have also set up a centre at haqqani, along with police, to support the families of the victims and a facility that we are using has been able to bring all of the agencies together to work really effectively —— hagney.

all of the agencies together to work really effectively -- hagney. good afternoon, my name is (patchy audio) and i'm from victim support new zealand, since the news of this incident first other filtering through, our organisation has been working hard in the background to put support plans in place to the victims of this awful event. we have had offers of time, money, 24—7 support from our support workers from all over the country and from our volunteers from all over the country. so starting tomorrow will probably be when we (patchy audio) those plans into the support process will last as long as it needs to. thank you. thank you. before i turn to your questions, i want to

conclude and again acknowledge the absolute bravery not just conclude and again acknowledge the absolute bravery notjust of police staff, and you would have seen online videos but also members of the public who put themselves in harm's way. our staff come to work every day to keep people safe. and that does mean putting themselves between danger. and they did. and the information i have from john and the information i have from john and the investigation team is their intervention may very likely have saved the lives. so i want to acknowledge them at this point, and they will be acknowledged further. thank you. the person in custody very much have the capacity to (patchy audio) firefight. can you give any description of that moment when the person was arrested, whether there was any suggestion it may happen or was the person willing (patchy audio)? the person was not willing to be arrested. again i

think you have probably seen some of the live video, there was live audio coming back too, to my command centre in wellington of the apprehension. i can tell you as i was listening to that, the person was listening to that, the person was non—compliant. we also believe that not only were there iuds in the vehicle, so it was a very dangerous manoeuvre, who also firearms in the vehicle —— ieds. to our staff, who we re vehicle —— ieds. to our staff, who were well—equipped, did engage with the person and again, put themselves in real danger to kick the community safe from further harm. highly armed police with bushmaster is (patchy audio) can you reassure new zealanders that there is no (patchy audio)? i have no intelligence about current imminent threats but i would never assume anything in a situation. that is why it is so

important that we resource the intelligence and investigations phase to make sure that we understand everything and understand it urgently. (unintelligible). we had a number of leads but to go to your point which is an important one, we assure the public that we are not searching for anyone that we think is an immediate threat but it doesn't mean they don't exist. so we will be highly vigilant, highly present, highly visible and if there is anyone out there wanting to commit harm, that we can intervene. and i reach out to the public again and say if you see something, say something. yet in touch with us. charged in relation to these incidents? look, we are, in terms of people who have been charged, as you know, we apprehended four people on the day. one was released quite early. a member of the public who

just wanted to get their kids home but decided to take a firearm. there was another couple arrested at (patchy audio) and we are currently working through whether or not that person or those persons have any involvement in this incident. so when we know, we will be able to give you but i don't say anything until we are sure. would you be able to clarify (patchy audio) new zealand firearm licence (patchy audio) was the interviewed (patchy audio)? we're working through the details and i will not give you a guaranteed... accurate answer to that because we're still working through the detail but the process is we will check for criminal history, we will check what referees and we will most likely would do a home visit. there has been some criticism about how quickly police responded to the incident. would you be able to give a detailed account

of when police arrived? yes, from the (patchy audio) andjohn of when police arrived? yes, from the (patchy audio) and john will help me on this, they responded immediately so to the initial scene, john, how many minutes? i think it was called at 1342? (patchy audio) from the tomic received a call to when the offender was in custody. you are satisfied with the response time? that is an incredibly fast response time. you had a mobile offender across a large metropolitan city and i am very happy with the response of our staff. but we were also on scene of the mosques were earlier than that, that was the time from the initial incident until we have the offender in custody. (patchy audio) held overnight before being brought to (patchy audio)? he was helpless to hear, i understand, john? correct, he was held in police custody here and we transported into the court for his hearing. the minister 's asked for a change...

that is police commissioner mike bush there with. .. that is police commissioner mike bush there with... said that was an update from the new zealand police commissioner mike bush. he explains that the 28—year—old man will be remanded in custody until the fifth of april, there is an investigation ongoing, he said, that the charges that the suspect faces will then be decided by about investigation. he gave his thanks to religious leaders, he said arms had travelled there to christchurch to offer support to those of the dirt by the incident ima —— imams. he also paid to be to his staff and the police service, they put themselves in danger, he said, and the intervention may very likely have saved the lives, we have further details on when they apprehended the suspect, he said that he was not willing to be arrested, and there was live audio of it coming into the command centres of the present was non—compliant and said there were provided explosives devices in the

vehicle, firearms in