Japan flying families of victims to Dhaka, JICA remembers its consultants

Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has told reporters in Tokyo that the government will fly the families of the victims to Dhaka.

He said the government will do its best to support the relatives and that urgent preparations were under way so that all of them can leave for the Bangladeshi capital early on Sunday evening, according to state-run television NHK.

Kishida said that he may be able to speak to the families at the airport when he sees them off.
 
The deadly terror attack at a Dhaka café on Friday night left at least 17 foreigners and five Bangladeshis, including two policemen, killed. Seven of them were Japanese.
 
The chief of Japan's governmental aid agency has expressed deep sorrow and regret for the loss of those lives.
 
Shinichi Kitaoka, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, said they were consultants involved in a project run by JICA, according to NHK World.

All of them were active in improving the urban traffic situation in Dhaka.

Kitaoka said the local JICA office had urged its staff to avoid going out at night for safety reasons. “It is extremely regrettable the agency's consultants may not have been thoroughly informed.”

The JICA chief said that in order to ensure safety, JICA's staff and consultants still in Bangladesh “may be urged to leave the country or stay at home depending on the situation”.

Earlier, Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Seiji Kihara arrived in Dhaka to take stock of the situation on the ground.