Jordanian mother dies day after funeral of son killed in New Zealand attack

R.I.P.

It wasn't just the lives of 50 innocent people who went to pray on a Friday afternoon that were lost during the Christchurch mosque attacks. The ripple effect of this tragic day is causing further sorrow and broken hearts.

The mother of one of the victims travelled from Jordan to New Zealand to attend her son's funeral, and died a day later, New Zealand Herald reported

Saud Abdelfattah Mhaisen Adwan attended a memorial held for her son, Kamel Darwish, on Friday. The 38-year-old father of three was killed during the mosque shootings.

On Saturday, the mother suffered a fatal heart attack, an official from the Sydney-based Jordanian Embassy said. Speaking to local media outlets, Yasser Mohammad, a family friend, explained that the 65-year-old woman was unable to handle the heartbreaking loss of her son. 

"She came yesterday to attend the funeral. Apparently this morning she passed away because she couldn't put up with the sorrow and sadness of losing her son," he stated.

Jordanian authorities are now arranging for the woman's coffin to be taken back home. The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying they've offered to cover the costs of the extradition process. 

Adwan's deceased son was a dairy farm worker who moved to New Zealand last year to join his older brother who was already based there. 

His wife and children had applied for a visa to join him in the country, but he was unfortunately killed before the family could reunite.  

Unfortunately, this isn't the only similar case to be reported in the past few days

Family members of those who died in the terrorist shootings were left in extreme distress. 

Manal Al-Harbi, the wife of Mohsin Al-Harbi - a 61-year-old Saudi victim of the massacres - "was so distressed as she searched for him that she collapsed with a heart attack and was taken to hospital in a critical condition." 

Egyptian teen dubbed 'hero' after alerting police of bus attack in Italy

Over 50 lives were saved.

An Egyptian teenager has earned hero-status after making a crucial SOS call that saved 51 children and several teachers caught up in a horrific attack on a school bus in Italy.

Ramy Shehata, 13-years-old, was among the middle school students abducted by their bus driver near Milan, with the latter setting the vehicle on fire after being confronted by police.

While the perpetrator had confiscated the phones of those on boardShehata responded with wit and bravery, hiding his phone and succeeding in alarming the police.

According to media reports, the bus driver allegedly hijacked the vehicle and threatened that "No one will survive."

The attacker has been identified as 47-year-old Ousseynou Sy, an Italian citizen of Senegalese origin, who has previously been convicted of driving under the influence and sexually assaulting a minor.

Sy took away the passengers' phones, but Shehata managed to hide his phone and discreetly call his father. He reportedly pretended to be praying in Arabic, while actually warning his father of the attack. 

Shehata's father then notified the police, who located and intercepted the bus, after which Sy set the bus on fire, having previously poured petrol over it. However, police successfully broke the rear windows of the bus and rescued the passengers.

Shehata has been widely hailed as a hero for making the lifesaving SOS call. "He is our hero", one classmate said, according to the BBC.

Speaking to Italian media, his father revealed the family immigrated from Egypt in 2001. Since his son was born in Italy, the father took the opportunity to urge authorities to grant him Italian citizenship.

"My son did his duty, it would be nice if he got Italian citizenship now. [...] We would love to stay in this country," he told Italy's Ansa news agency.

Egypt Independent reports that Luigi Di Maio, Italy's deputy prime minister and leader of the populist Five Star Movement, agreed that Shehata has earned the Italian citizenship. Di Maio reportedly vowed to ask Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to grant him citizenship for special merit.

Meanwhile, Deputy Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the government will assess the request for citizenship.

As for the motive behind Sy's attack, the latter said he was triggered by Italy's stance against immigrants from northern Africa. "Stop the deaths at sea, I'll carry out a massacre," he reportedly shouted during his clash with the police.

"It was my personal choice, I could no longer see children torn apart by sharks in the Mediterranean Sea, pregnant women dead," he explained, according to the BBC.

This comes as Italy has enforced a tough anti-immigration approach since the right-wing League party and the Five Star Movement rose to power last June. The country has tried to shut its ports ahead of immigrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea and minimized search and rescue operations, drawing criticism from human rights groups who say the country is endangering lives at sea.