A multi-national crowd was dining when terrorists invaded the trendy restaurant in a diplomatic enclave of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
The attackers took hostages and exchanged gunfire with police until soldiers moved in and killed the militants.
Dhaka attack: Full coverage
Twenty-one people inside the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe were killed, along with two police officers and four terrorists.
The slain victims included nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, three Bangladeshis and one U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin.
Here’s what we know about the victims:
Tarishi Jain
Indian national Tarishi Jain, 19, was a sophomore at University of California at Berkeley. She had started an internship at a bank in Dhaka just weeks ago.
She’d lived in Dhaka before, attending the American International School in Bangladesh’s capital while her father worked in the city as a textile merchant, UC Berkeley said Saturday.
“She was a smart and ambitious young woman with a big heart,” said Sanchita Saxena, director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Bangladesh Studies. “Our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and the entire Berkeley community.”
Fellow student Hannah Nguyen worked with Jain in the sales department of EthiCAL, a student-run apparel company.
“All of the times we had meetings, she had a way to make people feel happy, and she had a great spirit about her,” Nguyen said. “Her smile was contagious.”
Nguyen said her friend’s death makes terrorism more than a headline.
“We hear about these attacks and now it’s brought home. It’s extremely personal,” she said. “This reminds us that it’s always a good time to tell someone how important they are.”
Jain intended to major in economics and had begun an internship at Dhaka’s Eastern Bank Limited, working on e-commerce growth, in early June, UC Berkeley said.
India’s minister of external affairs, Sushma Swaraj, offered her condolences to Jain’s family, adding that “the country is with them in this hour of grief.”
Berkeley hosted a vigil on campus Tuesday to honor Jain and other victims of the attack.
Abinta Kabir
Abinta Kabir, one of two Emory University students killed in the attack, was a “treasure to this world,” her childhood friend Emma Louisa Jacoby told CNN.
Kabir, of Miami, Florida, was a sophomore at the Atlanta-based university’s campus in Oxford, Georgia. She had been visiting family and friends in Dhaka, the university said.
Like Jain, Kabir had attended the American International School in Dhaka before college, Jacoby said.
“Her work ethic was always inspiring to me. She was incredibly goal-oriented and committed to her work and extra curricular activities, and an amazing athlete on top of that,” Jacoby told CNN. “Everything she achieved, I can say she earned.”
Devika Harlaka, a college friend, said Kabir was extremely generous.
“I remember going for dance practice one day and I desperately needed black leggings, and mine were in the wash so I just knocked on her door and she just gave me her leggings, even when we weren’t that close,” Harlaka wrote on Facebook.
“When I graduated Oxford, she … made me a little candy bag with sweets and wrote me a card about how much she would miss me and how in such a short span of time we had become so close and had so many inside jokes.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott directed U.S. and Florida state flags across the state to be flown at half-staff Sunday to mourn Kabir.
Faraaz Hossain
Faraaz Hossain, who was from Dhaka, was a 2016 graduate of Oxford College near Atlanta and a student at Emory’s Goizueta Business School.
A friend from high school said he was voted prom king and class president. His friend told CNN he was very humble and one of the most responsible people she’d ever met.
Another friend, Rifat Mursalin, said he got to know Hossain, a fellow Bangladeshi, through a school project.
“My first interaction with Faraaz was when he reached out to me and offered to help me on a project I was working on,” Mursalin said. “And that serves as a testament to the kind of person he was. You know, always very loving, caring, helpful and extremely outgoing.”
He added, “We are still in disbelief and shock that the two places I consider home – Dhaka and Emory University – are both shaken by this tragic atrocity.”
“The Emory community mourns this tragic and senseless loss of two members of our university family,” the university said in a prepared statement Saturday. “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.”
Makoto Okamura
Makoto Okamura, 32, was one of seven Japanese nationals confirmed dead. They were all having dinner at the cafe when the terrorists struck.
“Everybody loved him. He is a good man,” his father, Komakichi Okamoto, 71, told Japan’s TV Asahi.
Okamura was engaged to be married, Asahi reported.
One of their dinner companions, management consultant Tamaoki Watanabe, survived.
Ishrat Akhond
Ishrat Akhond, known by her family as Leila, was full of warmth and always joyful, her uncle told CNN.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Akhond worked as a human resources director.
She was also a painter and curator who had helped design art galleries, according to Mak Khan, her uncle. She loved music and attending concerts.
Family members are devastated, shocked and in denial over her death, Khan said.
“She was like a bird in an open sky,” he said.
Claudia Maria D’Antona
Claudia Maria D’Antona, 56, was one of nine Italian citizens confirmed dead.
Originally from Turin, she had spent most of her adult life in the Far East, first in India and then in Dhaka, sister Patrizia D’Antona told told CNN affiliate Sky TG24 news channel.
She lived in Dhaka with her husband and business partner, Gian Galeazzo Boschetti, who missed the attack because he was on a phone call, according to the Italian channel.
“Claudia was someone who loved life. So strong, but capable and so open. She was so giving to others. When she was at a table, she was the life of the party, she could connect to others so quickly and (was) such a good listener,” said her sister, Patrizia D’Antona.
Simona Monti
Simona Monti, 33, was pregnant and planned to return to Italy this week and move to Magliano Sabina, where her family lives. Monti was at the cafe to say farewell to her friends.
“She was just such a free spirit, wasn’t scared of anything. And even a little stubborn,” her brother, Don Luca Monti, told Sky TG24. “She was a citizen of the world, her desire to travel, her curiosity. And even in this experience of death there’s a spiritual testament not only to our family but the whole nation and all of humanity, it’s that of being open without limits to everything that in the world is good, beautiful, just and true.”
Marco Tondat
Marco Tondat, 39, left Cordovado, Italy, one year ago in search of work, his brother Fabio Tondat told CNN affiliate Rai24 news channel.
He found a job in Dhaka as a supervisor at a textile company. He was set to return on July 4 to Italy, where his 5-year-old daughter was waiting for him.
“He was my only brother. We lost our father and now I lost my brother. They took him from me,” Fabio Tondat told the Italian channel.
“He was a great guy. Loved life. He left a year ago to embark on this adventure … and unfortunately the epilogue was such.”
Nadia Benedetti
Nadia Benedetti, 52, was originally from Viterbo, according to Sky TG24. A managing director of StudioTex Limited, she had been living in Bangladesh for 20 years and was dedicated to her job.
Before Dhaka she lived in Nepal.
“She was wonderful, she was courageous and fearless. She didn’t care that there were attacks,” granddaughter Giulia Benedetti told Rai24. “On the contrary she’d keep moving forward – even in the toughest moments, she would keep going.
“It’s thanks to this strength of hers (that) others benefited, too. She had found work for so many others there in Bangladesh.”
Adele Puglisi
Adele Puglisi, 54, was a quality control manager for Artsana, which makes infant care and beauty products, according to Sky TG24.
She lived in in Catania, Italy. She was in Bangladesh for work.
Cristian Rossi
Cristian Rossi was originally from Italy’s Udine province, according to Sky TG24. The father of 3-year-old twin daughters, he worked as a buyer for an Italian company with an office in Bangladesh before starting his own business.
Claudio Cappelli
Claudio Cappelli, 45, was a resident of Lombardy, Italy, with his wife and 6-year-old daughter, according to Sky TG24. He worked for a textile company and was in Dhaka on business. The mayor of Cappelli’s hometown said the news of his death “hits hard.”
“I didn’t know him personally, but it’s a citizen of our city and we are sending a big hug to the family.”
Vincenzo D’Allestro
Vincenzo D’Allestro, 46, was born in Switzerland and lived with his wife in Naples, Italy. He traveled often for his job in the textile sector, which had brought him to Dhaka.
Maria Riboli
Maria Riboli 34, lived in Solza, according Sky TG24. She leaves behind a three-year-old daughter. She was in Dhaka on a business trip for a textile printing business. Neighbors in Solza told the television network they were too upset to talk.
Japanese nationals
The Japanese government released the names of its seven citizens killed in Dhaka. No ages were given.
Koyo Ogasawara
Makoto Okamura
Yuko Sakai
Rui Shimodaira
Hiroshi Tanaka
Nobuhiro Kurosaki
Hideki Hashimoto
CNN’s Alexandra Field, Jareen Imam, Adrienne Shih, Tony Marco, Peter Dailey, Sabrina Khan, Yoko Wakatsuki, Alba Prifti and Livia Borghese contributed to this report.
