Brave Sydney siege hostages identified

As Australians struggle to come to terms with the Sydney siege tragedy, the brave and heroic hostages have been identified.

After 17 long and terrifying hours, the tense ordeal inside the Lindt cafe in Sydney’s Martin Place ended in the early hours of Tuesday morning with a volley of gunfire.

As heavily armed police stormed the building where 17 hostages were being held captive by self-described Muslim cleric Man Haron Monis, two innocent people were killed and four injured.

From professional men and women who were going about their daily routines, to teenagers working to pay their University fees, these are some of the faces of the courageous individuals who became caught up in the frightening situation that will no doubt leave a lasting imprint on all of those affected.

Jarrod Hoffman, 19, is a student at the University of Technology in Sydney.

According to his Facebook page, the teen is from Bondi and also attended Rose Bay Secondary College in the Sydney suburb of Dover Heights.

Jarrod is also a supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs football team and likes popular music bands including Fun, Boy And Bear and Gotye.

Fiona Ma graduated from James Ruse Agricultural High School in 2013. Described as having an “infectious smile” on her Facebook profile page, she went on to study at The University of Queensland and lives in Brisbane.

Siege survivor Julie Taylor and her colleague Katrina Dawson were grabbing a quick coffee together ahead of a busy morning in the office when the pair got caught up in an unimaginable act of terror.

The barrister, who is 19-week’s pregnant, was one of the hostages chosen by the lone gunman to record a video outlining his demands, which was later uploaded to YouTube.

Thankfully Julie managed to break free from inside the Lindt cafe, but her friend Katrina did not survive.

Brown-haired beauty Hariette Denny is one of five hostages who escaped from the building just minutes before heavily-armed police propelled inside.

The 30-year-old’s father, Robert, has since told told the Courier Mail that he watched the terrifying events unfold from his Mooloolaba loungeroom.

“She’s very distressed, she’s safe, she’s unharmed, she’s fine in that respect but when she learned that her manager had died…,” Mr Denny said.

“That has upset her because he was a friend of hers. All the people in Lindt were a close family group and they would go out and have fun together.

Puspendu Ghosh was also caught up in the 17 hour siege in Martin Place.

Originally from West Bengal in India, Mr Ghosh has been living in Australia for some time now and started working as a project manager at Westpac at the beginning of the 2014.

According to his Facebook page, the keen adventurer loves “shipwrecks and diving.”

“The deeper the better. Also love going on long walks and drives,” his profile reads.

Mr Ghosh had recently participated in his first ever skydive at Picton in Sydney’s south west.

Seven terrifying hours into the ordeal, Elly Chen was seen running for her life down a Sydney street and straight into the arms of awaiting police officers.

The 22-year-old barrister and University student was still wearing her apron as she fled through the front door of the building visibly terrified and in a great amount of stress.

Ms Chen, who was forced to hold up an Islamic flag in the window, was the fifth hostage to escape.

Like many caught up in the Sydney siege, business woman Marcia Mikhael was buying her morning coffee when she suddenly became a hostage in a gruelling 17-hour siege which would see three lives lost and others injured.

The Westpac executive and former police officer was forced to record a chilling video message and was posting demands from the gunman via Facebook from inside the café.

“Please help,” she wrote on Facebook from inside the café. “The man who is keeping us hostage has asked for small and simple requests and none have been met.

“He is now threatening to start killing us. We need help right now. The man wants the world to know that Australia is under attack by the Islamic State.”

Software engineer and father-of-one, Viswakanth Ankreddy, was another hostage who managed to run to safety.

The 32-year-old from India is currently living in Sydney with his wife and young daughter.

According to his Facebook profile, he graduated from Birl Institute of Technology & Science in Pilani and works for leading IT consulting company Infosys.

Sydney barrister and – heartbreakingly – mother of three Katrina Dawson has been identified as one of the two hostages killed in the horrific Lindt cafe siege in Sydney’s Martin Place.

While four innocent people were injured during the dramatic standoff, including a police officer, the highly respected professional, who worked at Eight Selborne Chambers in the CBD was tragically killed trying to defend her pregnant friend, AAP reports.

She leaves behind her husband, two daughters and son, all of whom are under the age of 10.

The second victim has also been identified as Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson, who is being praised a hero.

The 34-year-old reportedly decided to take action and wrestle the weapon from the 50-year-old lone gunman, allowing the other hostages to escape.

His parents Ken and Rowena have since released a heartfelt statement about their “beautiful boy”