KOLKATA: Identity of 20 hostages killed in Friday’s terror attack in an upmarket Dhaka restaurant is now known, official sources in Bangladesh told The Hindu . Nine of them are from Italy and were mostly attached to the textile industry, while seven Japanese citizens were associated with various engineering and construction companies. One Indian student and three Bangladeshis are also among the cafe visitors who were killed on Friday night.
Nadia Benedetti (52) was the managing director of Studio Tex Limited, a London based textile sourcing and retailing company. Her niece, Giulia’s Facebook posting is quoted by Italian press, where she said that Ms. Benedetti “…lived in Italy, Kenya, Bangladesh and never gave up, even in the most difficult moments.”
‘The beasts must be stopped’
Claudio Cappelli (45) from the city of Monza in north-central Italy in Lombardy region worked for more than five years in his textile company. Roberto Maroni, the Governor of Lombardy, was quoted by an Italian news website IL Cittadino [The Citizen]. “The beasts, killer [of] ISIS must be stopped by any means: we are at war and we are tired of turning the other cheek," Mr Maroni said.
Simona Monti (33) was seven months pregnant and was about to board a plane in next 48 hours, claimed Italian news agencies. Managing Director of Fedo Trading, an Italian textile company operating in Bangladesh, Claudia Maria DAntona (56) was living in Bangladesh for more than 20 years, social media posts claimed. Ms. Monti and Ms. DAntona were among the hostages killed by the militants.
Half of them were to return to Italy
Vincenzo DAllestro (46), Adele Puglisi (50), Maria Riboli (33), Cristian Rossi (47) and Marco Tondat – all in textile business – were killed in Friday’s attack. At least half of the Italians killed were scheduled to return or visit their country over next few weeks. Italian footballers wore black armbands in the Euro Cup quarter final match on Saturday to mark the tragic incident.
At least six of the seven Japanese nationals killed in the attack were working for the upcoming city railway project of Dhaka. Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, Obaidul Quader told the journalists in Dhaka that the Japanese engineers were working as inspectors. “The six persons were working as inspectors in route number one and five of Metro Railway project as inspectors,” Mr. Quader said.
Two of the 7 Japanese were women
Among them three – Makoto Okamura, Yuko Sakai and Rui Shimodaira – were working for Tokyo based Almec Corporation, while Koyo Ogasawara was working for Osaka-based Katahira & Engineers International, official sources confirmed to The Hindu. Japanese government officials confirmed that two of the seven persons killed are women.
Bangladesh had signed a contract with Japan International Cooperative Agency [JICA] for the urban transportation projects and the employees of various construction companies were accessed as consultants. Sources told The Hindu that three of the consultant engineers were working for Tokyo based Oriental Consultants Global.
While there is no official confirmation from the government, Bangladeshi media has identified them as Hiroshi Tanaka, Nobuhiro Kuroswaki and Hideki Hasimoto. Meanwhile a team of JICA is expected to reach Dhaka on Sunday to discuss the security situation with the government. An Indian student and three Bangladeshis are also killed by the attackers.
