Volunteers descend on Christchurch with burial process to start

As the first bodies of the Christchurch mosque shooting victims were returned to grieving families, Muslim volunteers from across New Zealand and Australia descended on the small town to help in the burial process.

Islamic custom dictates that people have to be buried as soon as possible, but the scale and devastation of Friday's massacre -- that saw 50 killed in the usually quiet southern New Zealand city -- has delayed the handover of bodies to next of kin.

Police said Tuesday that just six bodies have been released so far and a total of 12 victims identified. As anguished relatives wait, waves of volunteers have driven or flown in to ease the burden on exhausted locals.

"We are a Muslim community, regardless of where we are situated through the country and the world, there is always going to be a connection with other Muslims when tragedy occurs," Javed Dadabhai, a volunteer from Auckland, told AFP.

"Quite specifically, Christchurch is a small community, so... when you see a loss of 50 people, you really need to come down and help in whichever you can."