Nadia Benedetti, one of the nine identified Italian nationals slain in Friday's terror attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, had long been involved in garment trade in Bangladesh.

Benedetti's father started a buying house, Initial Sourcing Ltd, in 1995 in Bangladesh, which later branched out into garment manufacturing and was renamed as Studiotex.

She took the reins of the company as its managing director after her father died. She was involved in garment business for about 15 years here, until her life was cut short.

Studiotex sources more than $50 million of products a year from Bangladesh, said KI Hossain, president of Bangladesh Garments Buying House Association.

“She had lived in Italy, Kenya and Bangladesh and had never stopped, not even in the most difficult moments,” Ilgiornale.it, an Italian news website quoted her niece Giulia Benedetti as saying on Facebook. 

“Now we have lost the last hope. We will not see each other again; we will not talk and will not comment on the colours of the shirts to be produced,” she said.

Benedetti was in a farewell dinner at the restaurant with other Italian businessperson in Dhaka on business.

According to the Italian foreign ministry, the others were: Adele Puglisi, Marco Tondat, Claudia Maria D'antona, Vincenzo D'allestro, Maria Rivoli, Cristian Rossi, Claudio Cappelli and Simona Monti.

Some of the victims were employees of ZXY International FZCO and Studiotex, two Italian garment buying houses based in Dhaka, said KI Hossain.

Cristian Rossi, 47, a father of two three-year-old twins, ran a clothing consultancy, with offices in Bangladesh and China. He was on a business trip to Bangladesh and was scheduled to fly back to Italy on Thursday, but postponed the return.

Claudia Maria D'Antona, 56, who came from Turin in northern Italy, was the managing director of Fedo Trading Ltd, an Italian garment buying house operating in Bangladesh for more than 14 years. Her husband, Gian Galeazzo Boschetti, is the only Italian attack survivor, according to BBC News.

The majority of the victims arrived in Bangladesh two weeks ago to place work orders in different garment factories, according to KI Hossain.

“They have been sourcing garment items from Bangladesh for many years. They went to the restaurant to have a farewell dinner, as they were supposed to depart Bangladesh on July 4 [tomorrow].”

ZXY sources more than $100 million worth of garment items a year from Bangladesh for top-rated Italian retailers, said KI Hossain, who had a longstanding relationship with the buyers.