Okaz/Saudi Gazette MADINAH — Aseel Al-Ansari, a Saudi student who survived the recent terrorist attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, finally reunited with his family in Jumoum city outside Makkah. He arrived in Jeddah on Sunday. Aseel, an English language student in Christchurch, was shot in the knee while trying to escape when a lone terrorist barged into the mosque firing machine gun on March 15. Aseel's father, Sulaiman Khayrat Al-Ansari, described his son's injury as extremely serious and said he would need another surgical operation. He said as soon as he came to know that his son was wounded in the terrorist attack, he decided to travel to New Zealand to be beside him. Ansari said the insurance company covering the institute where his son was studying contacted him and offered to provide him with air ticket to New Zealand and accommodation on arrival, which would be covered by insurance. He said he left for New Zealand five days after the incident and was received at the airport by officials from the New Zealand government. "The officials expressed their regret over the incident and apologized to me for the injury of my son," he added. Ansari said the insurance company booked him into a five-star hotel for six nights while the government paid for the costs of local transport. "The Kiwis are extremely nice people. They are hospitable and considerate and they were still in shock over the terrorist attacks against two mosques in an otherwise peaceful city," he said. Ansari said his son had received utmost care in the hospital and that a charitable organization donated US$5,000 to every person wounded in the attack. He said he attended the condolence meeting held in honor of the dead the following Friday where he met with Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir, who directed the embassy and the cultural attache to provide his son with all help. He said his son asked Jubeir to enable him to continue his studies in New Zealand at the state expense. Ansari said the police and the public prosecution in New Zealand were very thorough in their investigations. "They wanted to know all the details of the incident. They asked my son how the terrorist tried to kill him while escaping, the roads which he took and the house where he took shelter," he said. The farther said the police asked his son to turn in his clothes and shoes that he was wearing at the time of the attack and they promised to compensate him. Ansari asked the concerned authorities in Saudi Arabia to admit his son to a specialist hospital to complete his treatment as his injury was very bad. He thanked the New Zealand government for their care for his son and for their generous hospitality, which he received since he set foot in the country.
