Gunman-takes-hostages-cafe-Sydney.html

Tori Johnson, 34, and Katrina Dawson, 38, were killed during a terrorist siege at Sydney's Lindt cafe
Mr Johnson, the cafe manager of two years, tried to wrestle the gun from the hostage-taker before he was shot
His parents, Ken and Rowena, have described him as a 'beautiful boy' as tributes flow in for the victims
Police stormed the cafe in central Sydney where a gunman held hostages for more than 16 hours
Officers moved in firing automatic weapons and throwing grenades as hostages were seen fleeing
Three women had to be treated for gunshot wounds and another two for non life-threatening injuries
Male police officer was among those injured after he was wounded by a gunshot pellet to his face
Thousands of people have gathered at Martin Place to lay flowers, some in floods of tears
Live TV footage showed hostages running frantically from the cafe at shortly after 2am in small groups
It came hours after gunman Man Haron Monis was named as the person holding people hostage

By Emily Crane and Louise Cheer and Daniel Piotrowski and Sarah Dean and Leesa Smith and Heather Mcnab and Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 23:06 GMT, 14 December 2014 | Updated: 14:27 GMT, 16 December 2014

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These are the faces of the innocent victims forced to endure some 16 hours of hell as they were held hostage in Sydney's terrorist siege.

Tori Johnson, the manager of the Lindt cafe in Martin Place, and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson were the two hostages killed during the bloody climax.

Mr Johnson, 34, was shot dead after he tried to wrestle the gun from Islamic extremist Man Haron Monis inside the cafe just after 2am on Tuesday.

Ms Dawson, a 38-year-old whose children are all under 10, died in hospital. She was a barrister at Eight Selborne Chambers in Sydney's Phillip Street, opposite the site of the siege.

The remaining hostages were able to make a break for the exit of the cafe about 2am after the gunman began to fall asleep - more than 16 hours after he took 17 people captive.

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The 34-year-old manager of the Lindt cafe, Tori Johnson (left), and mother of three Katrina Dawson, 38 (right), have been named as the two hostages killed during the Sydney siege on Tuesday morning

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Lindt employee Elly Chen (left), lawyer Stefan Balafoutis (middle) and John O’Brian (right) were among the first to escape

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Marcia Mikhail, 42, (left) is a Westpac executive and Harriette Denny, 30, (middle) and Jieun Bae, 20, (right) are Lindt employees

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Lawyer Julie Taylor (left), 19-year-old Jarrod Hoffman (middle) and Fiona Ma (right) escaped the frightening ordeal

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Westpac employees Selina Win Pe (left), Viswakanth Ankireddy (middle) and Puspendu Ghosh (right)

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Joel Herat (left) , who worked at the Lindt Chocolat Cafe, and Paolo Vassallo (right), the supervisor at the Cafe, found themselves hostages

Ms Dawson, who leaves behind her husband Paul and their children, Chloe, Sasha and Olive, was having a coffee with a pregnant colleague when the siege unfolded. Her children were unaware she was involved until Tuesday morning, the Australian reports.

One of the pregnant women in the cafe at the time, Julie Taylor, was also a colleague of Ms Dawson and had to be treated in hospital following the ordeal.

Lawyer Stefan Balafoutis was one of the first three men to escape the cafe about 3.45pm. He works in the 10th Floor Selborne/Wentworth Chambers, which is directly above Lindt.

Dressed in a bright blue blazer, 83-year-old John O’Brian, was the first out of the cafe when he escaped with Mr Balafoutis.

Marcia Mikhail, 42, was among those hostages forced to record a chilling video message listing the hostage-taker's demands. She was carried out of the cafe by two emergency services workers with blood running down her leg and is still recovering in hospital.

Harriett Denny, a fellow employee, ran from the cafe with five other hostages shortly before police issued their gunfire assault. The 30-year-old's father who lives in Queensland was forced to watch the horrific incident unfold on TV.

Viswakanth Ankireddy, a software engineer at tech giant Infosys, was working for Westpac in Martin Place when he was caught up in the siege. His Westpac colleague, Puspendu Ghosh, also escaped the siege unharmed.

Jarrod Hoffman, 19, and Fiona Ma were also among the hostages, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Selina Win Pe escaped unharmed after she was also forced to relay demands via a recorded message that were subsequently posted online during the siege.

Joel Herat, who lists his workplace as ‘Lindt & Sprüngli’ on Facebook, was another of the hostages to upload a haunting hostage clip on his YouTube account.

Within half an hour, the video was taken down by YouTube and the account was deactivated.

Paolo Vassallo, who was among the first hostages to escape on Monday afternoon, is a married father of three. After escaping, Vassallo was taken to hospital due to a pre-existing medical condition. He was later reunited with his family, reports ABC.