Christchurch terror attack: Family and friends' desperate wait for information

Friends and families of those missing after the Christchurch terrorist attack have been gathering across the city, all trying to make sense of what's happened.

Outside police cordons and outside Hagley College, families who have lost loved ones in the terror attack are waiting for the bodies to be returned. The pain is shared - and all too real.

"My friend I worked with died," one girl told Newshub.

On Friday night the cordon was a line families could not cross. Iraqi immigrants Janna and Hazin al-Umari were looking for their son, and desperate for information. Today, the 35-year-old is still missing.

Footage from their home CCTV shows him leaving for prayer on Friday just before noon - less than two hours before the attack.

Another woman, Nuha, is looking for her husband Ali Elmadani. There's still no word on where he is.

So the families stay on the outside on the cordon, waiting for information on those who are still inside.

The cordon - a line with pain and suffering on both sides.

Newshub.