Philippines Hostage.
The ethnic Chinese couple, a man of 72 and his 66-year-old wife, were among nine hostages the police inspector disgruntled over his sacking had allowed off the bus five hours after the hi-jacking began.
The ethnic Chinese couple, a man of 72 and his 66-year-old wife, were among nine hostages the police inspector disgruntled over his sacking had allowed off the bus five hours after the hi-jacking began.
As darkness fell after nine hours of negotiations, the mood changed dramatically and Rolando Mendoza, 55, a highly-decorated police officer, began shooting the hostages and firing out at police snipers.
But as criticism by the Chinese government and Hong Kong authorities mounted over the handling of the police operation the Philippines new president Benigno Aquino promised a full inquiry.
The bloody denouement played out live on television showed ill-equipped and confused police teams surround the bus, but then take 70 minutes to gain entry.
The gunman was shot in the head by a police sniper after he wounded one policeman and teargas grenades were finally tossed into the vehicle.
By then eight of the hostages were dead in grim scenes that sparked sadness and outrage in Hong Kong, even though six other tourists miraculously escaped injury along with the Filipino driver.
Police admitted today that they had made blunders in efforts to end the hi-jacking by the former policeman trying to win his job back after he was dismissed on charges of robbery and extortion.
Manila police commander Leocadio Santiago: "We saw some obvious shortcomings in terms of capability and tactics used, or the procedure employed and we are now going to investigate this."
The lucky British couple, who have not been named, were among nine hostages released earlier as a gesture by the gunman. British embassy consular staff in Manila spoke to the couple who were unharmed and they spent the night in a hotel.
But China called for a “thorough investigation” into the bungled rescue mission which came after both Chinese and Hong Kong officials had urged that Philippines police not to use violence in resolving the stand-off.
China’s foreign minister Yang Jiechi was said to be “appalled” at the bloodshed and telephoned his Philippines counterpart Alberto Romulo to voice his concern about the incident, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
“The Chinese government demands the Philippine government launch a thorough investigation into the incident and inform the Chinese side of related details as soon as possible,” Mr Yang said, according to a statement released by the foreign ministry.
For his part, Mr Romulo said the Philippines government felt “deep sorrow” for the incident, pledging to everything possible to save the injured and promising to carry out a complete investigation into the incident and convey the results to the Chinese side as soon as possible.
Following the shootings, China has dispatched a team of officials to Manila to deal with the aftermath of the hijacking.
“China has requested the Philippine side to take pragmatic measures to ensure life and property safety of Chinese nationals in the country,” a foreign ministry spokesman added.
In Hong Kong, the leader of the Chinese territory, Donald Tsang, called the attack a tragedy, his voice choking in a rare display of emotion.
"It's disappointing that Hong Kong residents tried to make a pleasure trip to Manila and ended up with death and casualties,” he said. “This is very tragic. And the way it was handled and particularly the outcome I found it disappointing.”
In Hong Kong flags on government buildings flew at half-mast and a few Chinese-language newspapers changing their mast-head colour from red to black, their front pages dominated by graphic photographs of the bloodbath.
The government’s anger was reflected by the survivors. One said her husband and two daughters were killed in a hail of bullets while her son was in intensive care in hospital.
The woman, identified only as Mrs Leung expressed her anguish to Hong Kong officials in remarks broadcast on Cable News TV.
“The Philippine government . . . I can't accept this. Why did they do this to us?" she said, sobbing. “[The gunman] did not want to kill us. He only shot us after the negotiations failed.”
The bloody denouement played out live on television showed ill-equipped and confused police teams surround the bus, but then take 70 minutes to gain entry.
The gunman was shot in the head by a police sniper after he wounded one policeman and teargas grenades were finally tossed into the vehicle.
By then eight of the hostages were dead in grim scenes that sparked sadness and outrage in Hong Kong, even though six other tourists miraculously escaped injury along with the Filipino driver.
Police admitted today that they had made blunders in efforts to end the hi-jacking by the former policeman trying to win his job back after he was dismissed on charges of robbery and extortion.
Manila police commander Leocadio Santiago: "We saw some obvious shortcomings in terms of capability and tactics used, or the procedure employed and we are now going to investigate this."
The lucky British couple, who have not been named, were among nine hostages released earlier as a gesture by the gunman. British embassy consular staff in Manila spoke to the couple who were unharmed and they spent the night in a hotel.
But China called for a “thorough investigation” into the bungled rescue mission which came after both Chinese and Hong Kong officials had urged that Philippines police not to use violence in resolving the stand-off.
China’s foreign minister Yang Jiechi was said to be “appalled” at the bloodshed and telephoned his Philippines counterpart Alberto Romulo to voice his concern about the incident, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
“The Chinese government demands the Philippine government launch a thorough investigation into the incident and inform the Chinese side of related details as soon as possible,” Mr Yang said, according to a statement released by the foreign ministry.
For his part, Mr Romulo said the Philippines government felt “deep sorrow” for the incident, pledging to everything possible to save the injured and promising to carry out a complete investigation into the incident and convey the results to the Chinese side as soon as possible.
Following the shootings, China has dispatched a team of officials to Manila to deal with the aftermath of the hijacking.
“China has requested the Philippine side to take pragmatic measures to ensure life and property safety of Chinese nationals in the country,” a foreign ministry spokesman added.
In Hong Kong, the leader of the Chinese territory, Donald Tsang, called the attack a tragedy, his voice choking in a rare display of emotion.
"It's disappointing that Hong Kong residents tried to make a pleasure trip to Manila and ended up with death and casualties,” he said. “This is very tragic. And the way it was handled and particularly the outcome I found it disappointing.”
In Hong Kong flags on government buildings flew at half-mast and a few Chinese-language newspapers changing their mast-head colour from red to black, their front pages dominated by graphic photographs of the bloodbath.
The government’s anger was reflected by the survivors. One said her husband and two daughters were killed in a hail of bullets while her son was in intensive care in hospital.
The woman, identified only as Mrs Leung expressed her anguish to Hong Kong officials in remarks broadcast on Cable News TV.
“The Philippine government . . . I can't accept this. Why did they do this to us?" she said, sobbing. “[The gunman] did not want to kill us. He only shot us after the negotiations failed.”
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