Asia-Pacific

Police surround bus in hostage standoff

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-08-23 20:42

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Seven tourists were killed after a dismissed policeman hijacked a tourist bus Monday, local police officials said. Eight were wounded, two of whom are in critical condition，Xinhua reported.

Lau Mei-sze, manager of Hong Thai travel agency which had organized the Hong Kong tour group to the Philippines, said the Hong Kong government has decided to send a chartered plane to the Philippine capital Manila on Monday night to carry back tourists involved in the abduction incident.

 

Philippine hostage crisis ended here on Monday night with several hostages still alive, local TV footage showed.

Philippine police stormed a tourist bus on which an armed man held 15 hostages, and local media reported the hostage-taker, a sacked police officer, had been killed. Police were shown by local media jumping into the bus after a tense and lengthy stakeout. The Red Cross said four hostages had survived and TV images showed police removing some bodies from the bus.

Philippine police have entered a bus after shots were heard from the hostage-taker of 15 Chinese tourists, and at least four of the hostages crawled out of the back door.There was no immediate confirmation of any casualties in the daylong standoff in downtown Manila late Monday.

TV footage shows 3 hostages crawling out of bus window, police enter bus.

Hostage taken killed in hostage crisis: Local TV

At least 3 hijacked hostages still alive: Xinhua

 

Police commandos assault a bus with tourists being held hostage at Quirino Grandstand in Manila August 23, 2010. [Photo/Agencies] More photos

 

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine police in helmets and flak jackets crouched beside a bus with 15 Chinese tourists held hostages inside Monday after firing shots at the tires in a bid to end a daylong standoff led by a dismissed policeman.

There was no immediate word on casualties. But the Filipino driver who escaped moments before police surrounded the bus in downtown Manila said the hostage-taker, armed with an M16 rifle, had opened fire at the tourists, police officer Roderick Mariano said.

Related readings:  9 of 25 tourists released from hijacked bus  All remaining captives killed: Driver  Philippine officials help freed hostages recover  Philippine police nab kidnapper of 2 Chinese nationals

Police used hammers to smash side windows, door and windscreen, but still did not enter the vehicle and there was no movement seen inside.

The gunman earlier released nine hostages -- leaving 15 inside -- and demanded his job back to free the rest.

Hours after seizing the bus, he released two women, three children, a diabetic man and three Filipinos -- including a tour guide and a photographer, police said.

The hostage-taker, identified as former Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, 55, was demanding he be given back his job on the police force a year after he was fired, Manila police chief Rodolfo Magtibay said.

According to newspaper reports from 2008, he was among five officers charged with robbery, extortion and grave threats after a Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging the policemen falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money.

Hong Thai Travel Services Ltd. General Manager Susanna Lau told Hong Kong's Cable TV the tour group had left Hong Kong on August 20 for a visit to Manila and was scheduled to fly back to Hong Kong on Monday. She said a Hong Kong tour guide and 20 tourists -- three children and 17 adults -- were on the bus.

Mendoza hitched a ride on the bus from the historic walled city of Intramuros and then "declared he is taking the passengers hostage" when it reached Jose Rizal Park alongside Manila Bay, Magtibay said.

The area also includes the seaside US Embassy and a number of hotels.