People gather to mourn for the victims of the attacks on two mosques of Christchurch in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Jianyong)

CHRISTCHURCH/WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the terror attacks on two mosques in New Zealand's Christchurch rose to 50, as one more victim was found at one of the shooting scenes, the police said here on Sunday.

Investigators found the victim while removing bodies from the Masjid Al Noor Mosque where more than 40 people were killed as a gunman stormed the mosque and went on a shooting rampage on Friday afternoon, Police Commissioner Mike Bush told a press conference.

The number of injured stood at 50, and 36 of them were still being treated in Christchurch Hospital, with two remaining in intensive care unit and one child at a children's hospital.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday that the bodies of those killed were being returned to their families but only a small number at this stage.

She expected that all the bodies would be returned to families by Wednesday.

MOURNING VICTIMS

Major public events during the weekend have all been cancelled across New Zealand and security has been beefed up in places such as airports.

Religious institutions on Saturday afternoon opened their doors to all faiths as a symbol of peace, while businesses chose to stay open as a sign of strength and the people of the garden city decided to come together in a show of unity.

Not far from the mosques where the shootings happened, people came to place flowers to express their condolences to the victims.

On Sunday, a community choir sang in the rain for hundreds of people to mourn the victims of the nation's worst ever terror attacks.

Among the sombre scene, a number of people from the local Muslim community embraced one another in tears, while others laid flowers along the fence of the wreath wall near the shooting scene.

The New Zealand Parliament would also pay tribute to the victims on Tuesday.

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