Emerging from the appalling, bloody debris are stories of immense courage. There are also unanswered questions about what happened to some of those who died.
It was about 20:45 on a Friday evening just before the Islamic festival of Eid. The restaurant - the Holey Artisan Bakery and O'Kitchen in Gulshan, Dhaka's leafiest, most exclusive area - was filling up, mostly with Japanese and Italian customers.
Suddenly, the five young militants burst in shooting and began hacking at the diners with sharp weapons.