Japan victims were working for development of Bangladesh: JBCCI

The seven Japanese nationals killed in a terror attack in Dhaka were working hard for development, the Japan Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JBCCI) has said in a statement.

They were consultants for the JICA, Japan top foreign funding agency – and six among them were surveyors for the project to build a Metrorail in Dhaka. 
 
“Our hearts are bleeding for this unbearable loss of lives of our Japanese friends, who were working hard for the development of Bangladesh,” said the statement signed by JBCCI Secretary General Tareq Rafi Bhuiyan.   
 
“We hope that this tragic incident will strengthen the long lasting friendship between our two countries instead of weakening it.”
 

Twenty hostages died, among them 17 foreigners, after Islamist gunmen attacked a Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen at the heart of Dhaka’s diplomatic zone in Gulshan on Friday. 

A Japanese national survived after commandos stormed the restaurant to break the overnight siege the next morning. 

Unfazed by the deadly attack, JICA, the Japan government’s aid unit, has promised to continue supporting development projects in Bangladesh, said its President Shinichi Kitaoka in a statement on Wednesday.