Victims in Bangladesh Restaurant Attack Came From Countries Around the World
Over a dozen foreigners from countries around the world were among those killed.
— -- More than a dozen foreigners from countries around the world were among those killed in Friday night's attack at an upscale restaurant in the capital of Bangladesh. The victims' nationalities include American, Italian, Japanese, Indian, and Bangladeshi.
The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has claimed responsibility for the attack in Dhaka, in which about 35 people, including about 20 foreigners, were taken hostage during a 10 hour-long siege of the restaurant, which is popular with foreigners.
Bangladeshi paramilitary troops rescued 13 hostages and killed at least six attackers, officials said. One attacker was arrested.
The Department of State confirmed in a statement that a U.S. citizen was among the 20 hostages slain by militants who stormed Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic quarter. The identity of the U.S. citizen has not yet been released.
U.S. citizens in the city were warned by the State Department to "remain vigilant" following the attack.
Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that nine of its nationals were also killed and one remains unaccounted for, according to The Associated Press.
A Japanese government spokesperson said five men and two women who were from Japan had died in the attack. Another Japanese man who had been shot was rescued and being treated at a local hospital, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told the AP.
An Indian national who was a sophomore at University of California, Berkeley, was also among those taken hostage and murdered. She was in Dhaka for an internship through the U.S. college that began in early June, school officials said.
Below, a partial list, according to The Associated Press, of the identities and nationalities of those reported dead:
Italians confirmed dead by the Italian Foreign Ministry (9):
— Nadia Benedetti: 52, a managing director for a Bangladeshi branch of a British firm, friend of Italian victim Adele Puglisi.
— Claudio Cappelli: 45, lived in Vedano al Lambro, near Monza.
— Vincenzo D'Allestro: 46, Swiss-born, lived in Accera, southern Italy.
— Claudia Maria D'Antona: 56, worked in clothing and textiles business. Her husband, Gianni Boschetti survived the attack because he was in the restaurant garden talking on the phone. When she lived in Italy, in the early 1980s, she served as a volunteer helping disaster victims.
— Simona Monti: 33, worked in a textiles firm. State TV quoted her brother, an Italian priest, as saying she was 5-months pregnant with a boy she planned to name Michelangelo and was to return soon to Italy for a medical checkup. She was from the Rieti area.
— Adele Puglisi: 54, a quality control manager from Catania, Sicily, who was due to head back to Italy any day.
— Maria Rivoli: 34, from the Bergamo area of northern Italy, mother of 3-year-old, traveling in Bangladesh for textile business
— Cristian Rossi: 47, business manager for Feletto Umberto, married father of 3-year-old twin girls. He had previously worked as a buyer for an Italian textile company, then worked in his own import business involving clothing made in a Dhaka factory. State TV said he was supposed to have headed back to Italy on Thursday, but delayed his departure to sign business contracts.
— Marco Tondat: 39, had been in Bangladesh for about a year, worked in textiles industry, was about to return home.
Japanese confirmed dead by the Japanese government (7):
Five men and two women, all working on a Japanese government aid project in Dhaka, who were dining together at the restaurant under siege. They were working for three Tokyo-based consulting companies. Four of the seven have been identified:
— Koyo Ogasawara, Katahira & Engineers International
— Makoto Okamura, ALMEC Corp.
— Yuko Sakai, ALMEC Corp.
— Rui Shimodaira, ALMEC Corp.
The other three were working for Oriental Consultants Global.
Indian confirmed dead by India (1):
— Tarushi Jain: 19, a student at University of California-Berkeley who was visiting her businessman father in Bangladesh
Bangladeshis, not immediately identified, confirmed dead (3):
In addition, two police officers died at a hospital after being wounded in the gunfire, according to Bangladesh police.
Nationalities not immediately available, confirmed dead by Emory University (2):
— Abinta Kabir: a second-year student at Emory University, Georgia, from Miami
— Faraaz Hossain: a student at Emory University, Georgia, from Dhaka
