At 1.32pm, exactly a week after a gunman began shooting people at two mosques in Christchurch, the nation of New Zealand observed a two-minute silence to remember the 50 victims.

Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old suspected white supremacist from Australia, had launched the attack to try to repel “invaders” from New Zealand, he wrote in a manifesto. Yet, the nation came together on Friday to observe the Muslim call to prayer, which was sounded around the country — including on national radio and television — before ceremonies were attended by tens of thousands of people who paid tribute to the dead and heard calls for unity.

Addressing a crowd of thousands standing quietly at Hagley Park, near the Al Noor mosque where 42 people were killed, Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, said: “New Zealand mourns with you. We are one.”