Gianni Boschetti’s life was saved by a single phone call. The Italian textile worker stepped out of a Dhaka cafe to speak on his mobile moments before the restaurant was stormed by Islamists who slaughtered 20 people.
His wife Claudia Maria D’Antona was not so lucky. She was trapped inside with scores of other hostages during the hours-long siege. She shrieked his name, and then went silent. He hid in the garden for several hours but heard nothing more from D’Antona. “The last time I heard my wife’s voice is when she called for me from the inside,” Boschetti told la Repubblica.
“I was sick with fear for myself and was worried about what was happening inside, with the agonising feeling of not being able to see my wife.”
D’Antona was one of nine Italians murdered in the ISIS-claimed attack at the upscale Holey Artisan Bakery that began Friday night and finally ended Saturday morning when security personnel stormed the cafe.
Seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an American and an Indian were also killed. D’Antona’s husband hid from the attackers in the cafe garden as they coralled diners inside, and heard “haunting cries” from the terrified hostages before he was able to flee to safety.