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Siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery

The terrifying ordeal of the siege at Dhaka's Holey Artisan Bakery in July 2016.

Some people show extraordinary courage in the face of extreme adversity. In an era when so many around the world are under threat of terror attacks, Assignment returns to one night in Bangladesh when ordinary people showed immense bravery. On the night of the 1st July 2016, five young Bangladeshi Islamist militants stormed a Dhaka restaurant popular with foreign residents and visitors. The siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery was an unprecedented attack in Bangladesh. 29 people lost their lives that night - the majority of them non-Bangladeshis, shot or butchered with machetes. But not everyone was killed. Linda Pressly together with local journalist, Morshed Ali Khan, tell the story of what happened inside the restaurant over 11 hours - the chef forced to cook sea bass by the killers, the kitchen worker locked for hours in a single toilet cubicle with 7 others. There are tales of escape and resistance. Above all, there is courage amidst the carnage, and in the face of bloody adversity.

(Photo L to R: Delwar Hossain, Sumon Rezar, Shishir Sarker. Credit: Linda Pressly)

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27 minutes

Last on

Sun 2 Jul 2017 04:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 29 Jun 2017 12:32GMT
  • Thu 29 Jun 2017 21:06GMT
  • Fri 30 Jun 2017 01:32GMT
  • Sun 2 Jul 2017 04:32GMT

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