Japanese victims of Dhaka attack arrive home

The bodies of seven Japanese nationals killed in a bloody restaurant attack in Dhaka were returned home early today on a government plane.

The aircraft landed shortly before 6:00 am (2100 GMT Monday) carrying the victims’ remains and their bereaved family members, who had been earlier taken to the upmarket cafe in the Bangladesh capital where terrorists killed 20 hostages.

The coffins, draped in white sheets, were lowered to the tarmac of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, where Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida along with other government officials and colleagues of the victims awaited.

Kishida joined others to offer floral tributes.

The plane arrived roughly two hours after a small jet carrying injured Tamaoki Watanabe, a Japanese survivor of the siege, landed at Haneda, local television footage showed.

He was rushed to hospital for further treatment, according to local media.

The Japanese nationals had been engaged in development projects in Bangladesh with the government-run Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The Japanese government was expected to hold a special ministerial meeting later in the day to receive a briefing on the situation from officials who visited Dhaka, local media said.