DHAKA – Bereaved families of Japanese victims who were killed in a terrorist attack in a restaurant in Dhaka visited a mortuary in the Bangladeshi capital on Monday.
A Japanese government plane carrying 18 family members of the eight Japanese nationals who were killed or injured in the attack arrived in Dhaka on Sunday. On Monday morning, a memorial service was held by the Bangladeshi government.
“It has been reported to us that some of the victims’ families were visiting a facility where the bodies have been placed,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said Monday morning.
Reuters, AFP
The memorial service organised by the Bangladeshi government was held at a stadium in the centre of the city. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid a floral tribute while the flags of Japan and Italy, whose nationals were victims of the attack, were placed on a stage. Families of Bangladeshi victims also attended the service.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Seiji Kihara, who has been dispatched to the site, told media that the families “looked exhausted, physically and emotionally, and distressed.”
“It was not an atmosphere where I could offer any words,” he added.
The bodies of seven victims will return to Japan after a series of administrative and legal procedures.
“We’ll do our best to get everything done within a day or two,” Kihara said.
The Japanese government plans to arrange an occasion for the families to visit the attack site upon request.
On Sunday afternoon, Kihara visited a hospital where Tamaoki Watanabe, a Tokyo-based consulting firm employee who was rescued after the incident, was being treated.
Japanese victims of Dhaka attack
Killed
Hiroshi Tanaka, 80
Hideki Hashimoto, 65
Koyo Ogasawara, 56
Nobuhiro Kurosaki, 48
Yuko Sakai, 42
Makoto Okamura, 32
Rui Shimodaira, 27
Injured
Tamaoki Watanabe, 40s
