Bangladesh tour of New Zealand called off after Christchurch terror attack

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Christchurch, March 15: The Bangladesh tour of New Zealand has been called off after the Christchurch mosque shooting on Friday (March 15). New Zealand had won the first two Tests to win the series 2-0.

The Bangladesh team was going to visit Al Noor mosque here when the shooting took place and the players escaped to the nearby Hagley Oval before travelling back to the safer confines of their hotel via a bus. The attack was described by Prime Minister Jacinda Arden as "one of New Zealand's darkest days."

Arden issued a strong statement condemning the attack. "There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence, which it is clear this act was. This is significant and I can tell you now this is and will be one of New Zealand's darkest days. I would describe it as an unprecedented act of violence, an act that has absolutely no place in New Zealand. This is not who we are.

"Certainly it has occurred at a place where people should have been expressing their religious freedom, where they should have been in a safe environment, and they have not been today. There is no place in New Zealand for such extreme acts of unprecedented violence. The people who were the subject of this attack today, New Zealand is their home, they should be safe here. The person who has perpetuated this violent act against them, they have no place in New Zealand society," the statement read.

(More to follow)