1 000s pay tribute to Chapel Hill victims

Winston-Salem - Thousands of mourners attended the funeral prayers on Thursday for three young Muslims killed in North Carolina, and the father of two of the victims urged US authorities to probe whether religious hatred was a motive for the murders.

Newlywed Deah Barakat, aged 23, a University of North Carolina dental student, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, aged 21, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, aged 19, a student at North Carolina State University, were gunned down on Tuesday in a condominium about 3km from the UNC campus in Chapel Hill.

Police charged the couple's neighbour, Craig Stephen Hicks, aged 46, with murder. Investigators say initial findings indicate a dispute over parking prompted the shooting, but they are looking into whether Hicks was motivated by hatred toward the victims because they were Muslim.