Mourners Pay Tribute to Holey Artisan Bakery Café Victims

Jesmin Papri
2017.07.01
Dhaka
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Flowers fill a makeshift altar outside the former Holey Artisan Bakery café on the one-year anniversary of the terror attack in Bangladesh, July 1, 2017. [Newsroom photo]

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Senior police officials including Additional Inspector General of Police Mokhlesur Rahman, Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Asaduzzaman Mia, Chief of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Monirul Islam pay their respects, July 1, 2017. [Newsroom photo]

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The mother of Zakir Hossain Shaon, a cafe chef who died of injuries weeks after the attack, breaks down in tears, July 1, 2017. [Newsroom photo]

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Italian Ambassador Mario Palma, second from right, is joined by a victim’s relative at the site of the former Holey Artisan Bakery café, July 1, 2017. [Newsroom photo]

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A man mourns at the former Holey Artisan Bakery café, July 1, 2017. [Jesmin Papri/BenarNews]

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Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and other leaders pay their respects to the victims, July 1, 2017. [Newsroom photo]

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A floral arrangement pays tribute to Nadia Benedetti, July 1, 2017. [Jesmin Papri/BenarNews]

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Police guard the site of the former Holey Artisan Bakery café, July 1, 2017. [Newsroom photo]

The former site of the Holey Artisan Bakery, the scene of a horrific terror attack that left 24 people and their five attackers dead on July 1-2, 2016, was opened for four hours on Saturday so mourners could pay their respects.

An altar covered with a white cloth was placed outside the building to allow visitors to lay flowers in memory of the victims.

The mourners represented all walks of life including representatives of different political parties, diplomatic missions, civil society activists and police personnel. Many cried as they remembered those who were killed that day.

The dead included nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen and six Bangladeshis, including two police officers and two bakery staff. Within hours, the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government continues to deny any IS presence in the country.

After completing their investigation of the crime scene, police returned the building to its owner who is turning it into his residence.

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