Three U.S. College Students Among Those Killed in Bangladesh Restaurant Attack
Three U.S. college students were among those taken hostage and killed in Dhaka.
— -- Two students from Emory University and one from University of California, Berkeley, were among those taken hostage and killed at an upscale restaurant in the capital of Bangladesh, the schools said Saturday.
Tarishi Jain, a sophomore at University of California, Berkeley, was in Dhaka for an internship through the college that began in early June. Jain, an Indian national, was a graduate of the American International School of Dhaka, and her father is a textile merchant based in the Bangladeshi capital. She was intending to major in economics at Berkeley, the school said.
"We are all very devastated to hear the news about Tarishi Jain. She was a smart and ambitious young woman with a big heart. Our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and the entire Berkeley community," Sanchita Saxena, executive director of the UC Berkeley's Institute for South Asia Studies and director of the Center for Bangladesh Studies, said in a statement.
Abinta Kabir, a sophomore at Emory University, was visiting family and friends in Dhaka when she was murdered by attackers who stormed Holey Artisan Bakery in the city’s diplomatic quarter Friday night. Kabir was from Miami, Florida, the school said.
Another Emory University student, Faraaz Hossain, was also killed in the hostage situation. He was from Dhaka.
"The Emory community mourns this tragic and senseless loss of two members of our university family," Emory University said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out on behalf of Faraaz and Abinta and their families and friends for strength and peace at this unspeakably sad time."
The school said it is offering counseling services to bereaved members of its community.
Emory University president James Wagner, writing before news of Hossain's death, said Saturday that he had been in touch with Kabir's mother, who he said was in "unspeakable pain" upon receiving word of her daughter's murder.
"Please, as you are inclined, direct your kindest thoughts and sincerest prayers in her behalf and that of her family," Wagner said in a statement today.
Kabir's mother, Ruba Ahmed, said her daughter was born in Bangladesh but grew up in Florida, where she went to school at Ada Merritt K-8 Center in downtown Miami.
"Pray for her," Ahmed told ABC's Miami affiliate WPLG today. "She was my only child and a very smart and caring person."
Kabir was a student at the school’s two-year college in Oxford, Georgia, about 38 miles from its main campus in Atlanta. Hossain had just graduated from the same two-year program, and was a junior at Emory's Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, the school said.
ISIS, the Islamic State group, has claimed responsibility for the attack in which about 35 people were taken hostage, including about 20 foreigners, during a 10-hour siege of the restaurant that is popular with foreigners. The militants killed 20 of the hostages.
In a rescue operation by Bangladeshi paramilitary troops, at least six attackers were killed, one was arrested and 13 hostages were rescued, government officials said.
Bangladeshi Brig. Gen. Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury said troops recovered explosive devices and sharp weapons from the scene.
U.S. citizens in the city were warned by the State Department to "remain vigilant" following the attack.
