Families of Japanese terror attack victims arrive in Dhaka

KYODO

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Relatives of the seven Japanese killed and one injured in a terrorist attack in Dhaka have arrived in the Bangladeshi capital.

The relatives of the victims are to be escorted to a hospital where the bodies are being kept after local authorities complete administrative and judicial procedures, Japan’s Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiji Kihara told reporters early on Monday.

A Japanese government aeroplane carrying the 18 relatives landed in Dhaka late on Sunday night, according to Kihara, who was sent to Bangladesh on Saturday to join members of the government’s international terrorist information-gathering unit dispatched earlier.

Takashi Tanaka, younger brother of Hiroshi Tanaka, one of the seven Japanese killed in Dhaka terrorist attack, speaks to reporters in Yokohama on Sunday. Photo: Kyodo

The relatives left Japan on Sunday evening following the deadly attack at a restaurant in Dhaka on Friday evening, for which the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility.

The bodies of the victims as well as the lone Japanese survivor of the attack will be flown back to Japan aboard the same aircraft, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Sunday in Tokyo.

20 ‘foreign’ hostages killed after Islamic State militants storm Bangladesh restaurant

Also aboard the jet were officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which had engaged the victims as consultants on a development project in Bangladesh.

At least 20 hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, and one person each from the United States and India, were confirmed dead by Saturday after the attack that began Friday evening by heavily armed Islamic terrorists on the restaurant and bakery frequented by expatriates in Dhaka. Two policemen and six of the seven assailants also died, according to Bangladeshi authorities.

A bus arrives in Dhaka carrying relatives of the seven Japanese killed and one injured in the terrorist attack in the Bangladeshi capital Photo: Kyodo

The Japanese government has declined to name the five men and two women killed, but Kyodo News has learned their names through government and other sources close to the matter.

According to the sources, three of the victims were Makoto Okamura, 32, Yuko Sakai, 42, and Rui Shimodaira, 27 – all employees of the Tokyo-based construction consulting company Almec Corp. Another victim has been identified as Koyo Ogasawara, 56, who worked for the Tokyo-based construction consulting firm Katahira & Engineers International.

Bangladesh troops kill six Islamic State gunmen, free 13 hostages after 10-hour Dhaka cafe siege

The other three killed were Hideki Hashimoto, 65, Nobuhiro Kurosaki, 48, and Hiroshi Tanaka, 80, all related to Tokyo-based consulting firm Oriental Consultants Global Co.

The injured Japanese man, Tamaoki Watanabe, an employee of Almec, was among 13 people rescued when police stormed the scene. He is being treated for gunshot wounds and his injuries are not life-threatening.

Relatives of the seven Japanese killed and one injured in a terrorist attack in Dhaka have arrived in the Bangladeshi capital.

The relatives of the victims are to be escorted to a hospital where the bodies are being kept after local authorities complete administrative and judicial procedures, Japan’s Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiji Kihara told reporters early on Monday.

A Japanese government aeroplane carrying the 18 relatives landed in Dhaka late on Sunday night, according to Kihara, who was sent to Bangladesh on Saturday to join members of the government’s international terrorist information-gathering unit dispatched earlier.

Takashi Tanaka, younger brother of Hiroshi Tanaka, one of the seven Japanese killed in Dhaka terrorist attack, speaks to reporters in Yokohama on Sunday. Photo: Kyodo

The relatives left Japan on Sunday evening following the deadly attack at a restaurant in Dhaka on Friday evening, for which the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility.

The bodies of the victims as well as the lone Japanese survivor of the attack will be flown back to Japan aboard the same aircraft, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Sunday in Tokyo.

20 ‘foreign’ hostages killed after Islamic State militants storm Bangladesh restaurant

Also aboard the jet were officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which had engaged the victims as consultants on a development project in Bangladesh.

At least 20 hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, and one person each from the United States and India, were confirmed dead by Saturday after the attack that began Friday evening by heavily armed Islamic terrorists on the restaurant and bakery frequented by expatriates in Dhaka. Two policemen and six of the seven assailants also died, according to Bangladeshi authorities.

A bus arrives in Dhaka carrying relatives of the seven Japanese killed and one injured in the terrorist attack in the Bangladeshi capital Photo: Kyodo

The Japanese government has declined to name the five men and two women killed, but Kyodo News has learned their names through government and other sources close to the matter.

According to the sources, three of the victims were Makoto Okamura, 32, Yuko Sakai, 42, and Rui Shimodaira, 27 – all employees of the Tokyo-based construction consulting company Almec Corp. Another victim has been identified as Koyo Ogasawara, 56, who worked for the Tokyo-based construction consulting firm Katahira & Engineers International.

Bangladesh troops kill six Islamic State gunmen, free 13 hostages after 10-hour Dhaka cafe siege

The other three killed were Hideki Hashimoto, 65, Nobuhiro Kurosaki, 48, and Hiroshi Tanaka, 80, all related to Tokyo-based consulting firm Oriental Consultants Global Co.

The injured Japanese man, Tamaoki Watanabe, an employee of Almec, was among 13 people rescued when police stormed the scene. He is being treated for gunshot wounds and his injuries are not life-threatening.

(KYODO)