HK tourists in Manila bus hijack
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Hostages feared dead as Philippine bus hijack ends
MANILA — A dramatic hostage siege in the Philippine capital involving a busload of Hong Kong tourists ended after 12 hours on Monday with several captives walking free but the fate of 11 others unknown.
The gunman, a disgruntled ex-policeman, was killed in the final moments of the crisis in the heart of Manila, which was played out live on television screens around the globe.
Four of the tourists emerged from the bus alive, surrounded by police and emergency vehicles, but there were fears for the lives of the 11 others who did not get off the vehicle immediately afterwards.
Some of the hostages were seen being pulled out of the bus motionless, but it was unclear whether they were unconscious or dead.
The body of the gunman, a highly decorated former police inspector who hijacked the bus in a desperate bid to get his job back, was seen slumped out of the main door of the vehicle.
Multiple gunshots were heard moments before heavily-armed police moved in on the bus near a park in Manila's historic tourist district just after nightfall.
The gunman, former senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza, said just ahead of the police assault that he had shot two of his captives and would kill the others if police did not move back.
"I shot two Chinese. I will finish them all if they do not stop," he told the Radio Mindanao Network about 10 hours in to the hostage drama.
"I can see a lot of SWAT (special weapons and tactics police) coming in. I know they will kill me. They should all leave because anytime I will do the same here."
Police were unable to get inside the bus for more than an hour after negotiations broke down and they decided to storm it.
They encircled the bus, smashed its windows and fired at it, but Mendoza held them off by shooting back.
The crisis eventually ended when police threw tear gas inside the bus, and fired again.
The hostage drama began when Mendoza boarded the bus in Manila's tourist district on Monday morning. He wanted to clear his name after being discharged for extortion in 2008, and called on authorities to review his case.
Philippine authorities said 22 tourists from Hong Kong were originally on the bus, including children, as well as the local driver and two other Filipinos.
Seven of the tourists, including three children and an elderly man, as well two Filipinos, were released at various times throughout the day.
The Filipino driver jumped out of a window and escaped just before police stormed the bus.
Mendoza, 55, was honoured by police chiefs in 1986 as one of the top 10 officers in the country. But he was discharged in 2008 for his alleged involvement in drug-related crimes and extortion, according to police.
"He wants to be reinstated in the service," Manila district police chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay said early in the day.
Mendoza had posted a series of written messages on the windows of the bus, one of which read: "Big mistake for big wrong decision", apparently in reference to his sacking.
Joseph Tung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, said the tourists on the bus were aged between four and 72.
They were on a three-day tour with Hong Thai Travel and were scheduled to return to Hong Kong late Monday.
The bus was parked in front of a grandstand at Rizal Park, a popular tourist destination just a few blocks from police headquarters.
Before the crisis ended, China's foreign ministry urged Philippine authorities to ensure the Hong Kong tourists were rescued safely.
Monday's bus hijack recalled a similar hostage-taking in 2007, when a troubled civil engineer armed with a grenade took over a bus and held 30 children but freed them after a 10-hour standoff with police.
The 2007 drama took place near Manila city hall, just off Rizal Park.
Monday's tragedy also added to a fast-growing number of attacks of foreigners in the Philippines.
Gunmen shot dead a South Korean man in a separate attack on Monday morning in another section of Manila. Police said the incidents were not related.
Last month, an American, a South African, a Briton and their Filipina partners were killed in spate of murder-robberies in Angeles City north of Manila. The alleged killer was arrested.
Breaking News
A hostage crisis in the Philippine capital ended on Monday with gunman killed by police. Hospital doctor said at least 4 Hong Kong tourists killed. Several had earlier emerged from bus alive.
RIP to the deceased. the tourists are supposed to fly back to HK today. today is the last day of their tour. so sad. -
can't blame the gunman lah, Hong Kongers can be damn irritating one.......
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hk media say 9 dead 6 injured
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Good luck explaining to the Chinese govt... former decorated policeman kills HK tourists...
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Chinese govt not interested lah.................if 100 plus kana killed then they will ask becoz of public pressure only
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Bus hostage crisis ends with 7 dead
(The Philippine Star) Updated August 23, 2010 10:16 PM Comments (0) View comments
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A dramatic hostage-taking in the capital ended with six bus passengers dead today after shots rang out and police stormed the vehicle.
The hostage-taker also died, police said.
Five hostages were brought to the Manila Hospital, two of them dead on arrival and three alive without injuries.
The Manila Doctors Hospital reported it received four dead and one woman in critical condition.
The incident started when a dismissed policeman armed with an M16 rifle seized the busload of Hong Kong tourists to demand his reinstatement in the force.
Police officer Roderick Mariano cited the driver who escaped moments before police surrounded the bus as saying the hostage-taker, identified as former Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, 55, opened fire at the tourists.
The gunman earlier released nine hostages — leaving 15 inside — and demanded his job back to free the rest. -
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RIP to those who died... Its really saddening.
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RIP
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Horrible horrible horrible rescue attempt if it is one in the first place that was broadcasted live to the world. This video will hopefully serve as a sombre training aid to many others in future.
Horrible. It was painful to watch.
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i was watching it live in hongKong from moring till the sniper is killed. From passenger looking out at the window in moring till they were killed. From kidnapper walking around the bus till he was head blash by sniper and brain matter coming out. It is really saddening. Like a action movie but super long 11 hours. The Police want to revenge for getting fired. Those tourist were having their last day returning to HongKong from that bus to airport.The thunder and lightning during the rescue mission seems to representing tears from the sky.
Phillipine SWAT team is bad at handling these kind of suituation. Sniper missed 3 good chance at killing the kidnapper. Swat team is fat and scare to go inside.In the end.so many passenger is killed.
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Originally posted by Asromanista2001:
can't blame the gunman lah, Hong Kongers can be damn irritating one.......
can't blame u for being stupid. if you can't say something intelligent then don't.
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China strongly condemns Philippine bus hijack
MANILA: China on Tuesday strongly condemned a bus hijacking in Manila that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead, while urging the Philippine government to ensure Chinese travellers were safe.
"The Chinese government strongly condemns the atrocity by the hostage-taker, expresses grave condolences to the victimised Hong Kong compatriots and conveys profound sympathy to the bereaved families," the Chinese embassy said.
"The Chinese side has urged the Philippine side to take concrete measures to ensure the safety and security of the Chinese citizens in the Philippines," it said in a statement.
China on Tuesday urged its citizens travelling to the Philippines to exercise caution, after eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a bus hijacking in Manila.
"The consular section of the foreign ministry and the embassy in the Philippines warn Chinese citizens to be cautious when travelling to the Philippines," the ministry said in a statement.
"Chinese citizens in the Philippines must pay attention to security risks, step up measures of self-protection and immediately inform the Chinese embassy of any emergency situations."
The mission also said the Chinese government was sending a government team to Manila to help deal with the aftermath of Monday's hostage crisis that unfolded live on global television.
"The... authorities of China will keep close contact with the Philippine side and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, exert the utmost to save the injured and properly deal with the aftermath."
Eight Hong Kong tourists were killed when police stormed a bus that had been commandeered 12 hours earlier by a disgraced ex-police officer demanding he get his job back.
Seven other Hong Kong tourists were injured.
One of them is still in a critical condition more than 12 hours after the bloody rescue attempt while the others sustained only slight injuries, Chinese embassy spokesman Sun Yi told local radio.
The ordeal began when the suspect, armed with an M-16 assault rifle and dressed in combat pants, hijacked the bus with 25 people aboard in Manila's tourist district.
He later freed seven Hong Kong tourists and two Filipinos.
But negotiations broke down after nightfall when the gunman, former senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza, began shooting and commandos were forced to storm the bus, firing dozens of bullets of their own into the vehicle.
The Filipino driver escaped just before the shooting.
Sun, the embassy spokesman, said a Hong Kong flight carrying the victims' relatives arrived in Manila before dawn on Tuesday. - AFP/de/fa -
Philippine police admit blunders in deadly hostage ordeal
MANILA — Philippine police conceded Tuesday they made blunders in ending a bus hijacking as outrage grew over the bloody assault played out on live television that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead.
Commandos fired dozens of bullets into the bus and smashed its windows with sledgehammers as they tried to storm it, but were then forced to wait outside helplessly for over an hour as the hijacker used his captives as human shields.
The ordeal in Manila’s tourist district on Monday finally ended when the police fired tear gas into the bus and a sniper shot the gunman in the head, but by that time eight of the tourists on board had been killed.
Amid a building storm of criticism from Hong Kong’s government and people around the world who watched the shoot-out live on television, Manila police commander Leocadio Santiago admitted mistakes had been made.
“We saw some obvious shortcomings in terms of capability and tactics used, or the procedure employed and we are now going to investigate this,” Santiago said on local television.
He and President Benigno Aquino promised to probe all aspects of the 12-hour ordeal, which began when a disgruntled sacked policeman armed with an M-16 assault rifle hijacked a bus carrying 25 people, mostly Hong Kong tourists.
Aquino told a pre-dawn press conference that the tragedy highlighted many flaws in the ability of Philippine security forces to handle hostage situations.
“There are a lot of things (that) resulted in a tragedy. Obviously we should be improving,” said Aquino, who took office less than two months ago.
One of the problems he emphasised was the way the crisis played out through the media, with the gunman being allowed to speak on radio and watch events live on the bus’s television, giving him insights into police actions.
But Aquino nevertheless insisted waiting more than 10 hours before storming the bus was the right course of action, because police believed until that point they could convince the gunman to stand down.
However relatives of the victims as well as the Hong Kong government and media expressed anger over the bloody end to the stand off.
“The way it is handled — particularly the outcome — is very disappointing,” Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang told reporters.
The Chinese embassy in Manila on Tuesday urged the Philippines to take concrete measures to protect Chinese citizens while Hong Kong newspapers bemoaned missed opportunities to end the siege much earlier.
“A large group of police failed to get into the bus after surrounding the vehicle for nearly half an hour,” the Hong Kong Economic Journal said.
“Their appalling professional standards, and the lack of strategic planning, made observers both angry and sad. This tragedy could have been avoided.”
One of the survivors, who identified herself as Mrs Leung, said at the scene after she scrambled out of the bus that police should not have waited so long before taking action.
“There were so many people on the bus — no one came to our rescue. Why?” said Mrs Leung.
Hong Kong media said Mrs Leung’s husband had died in a hail of bullets as he tried to protect his wife. The couple’s three children aged 14, 18 and 21 were also on the bus and remained unaccounted for, according to the reports.
The Hong Kong government organised two chartered flights to take relatives of the hostages, as well as psychologists, doctors and social workers, to Manila.
Flags flew at half mast and the Hong Kong stock exchange held a minute’s silence as the shocked territory mourned the victims.
The gunman, former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza, hijacked the bus in a crazed attempt to clear his name from charges of extortion that led to him being discharged from the police force in 2008.
Mendoza, 55, had demanded that the ombudsman re-open an investigation into his case, which centred on accusations he tried to extort money from a man who was accused of drug trafficking.
Before being discharged, Mendoza was regarded as a model officer, once being named by his superiors as among the top 10 policemen in the country.
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Snipers should have taken him on 2 occasions, 1) when he was releasing the old man from the bus door (more than 5 seconds) and 2) when he moved the curtains peering out of the bus window.
If you don't intend to negotiate with the terrorist, you should take him out when given the chance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og16qCZJ8rY
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I watched the video of the SWAT team rescue attempt.
I'm not trying to be an armchair general, but I really had to cringe while watching it.
WTF were they doing, smashing windows here and there? The element of surprise was totally lost when they did that.
At one point in time, the fella smashing in the door actually somehow hurled the jackhammer right into the bus. Huh?
And then they tried to throw lightsticks in there. No nightvision equipment ah?
All that is a great way of telling the hijacker that 'We want to storm the bus, and we're trying to smash our way in. Because we can't see you properly, we're going to light our way with lightsticks.'
Kaoz.... just position snipers around the bus, and take down the fella once any one of them got a clear shot!
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I was very surprised that at one point, when the gun man release the elderly, he was in full front view at the door, even when the elderly had walk quite a distance, he was still standing there with the doors open! A very good opportunity to capture/ shoot him!
Who is more important, the life of the gun man or the safety of the tourist! When the elderly was led out, the people on board the bus were still very much alive, if they had not missed that chance, this tragedy could have been avoided. What a tragic moment to see your love one being gunned down in front of you, and not being able to moan and cry openly and seek help for fear of that gun man too.
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I will just highlight a part that the police have said. Please click on the link to read the entire article if you wish to.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38826105/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
"Another aspect that I think not too many people are aware was that at some point in time, when the action did occur, the hostage taker had surrounded himself with his hostages," Aquino he told a midnight news conference.
"He used them as body shields which made our forces hesitate to employ deadly force."
Aquino said Mendoza had not seemed to be a hard-core criminal or terrorist and "that led us to believe that this could be settled peacefully, without loss of life."
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He did not surround himself with the hostages when he was at the door, and at the window when peeking out. How can police believe and trust someone who is holding on to a gun, clearly serious in whatever business he is in! Shouldn't the police first coax him and pretend to agree with him his terms and conditions, then slowly deal with him later -.-
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R.I.P to the 10 HK tourist.
The phillipine officer should have backshot that stupid ronaldo...
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So whats the confirm number of deaths?
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Originally posted by gunner77:
So whats the confirm number of deaths?
8.
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10 dead liao, according to tw news. pinoy have alot of explaining to do
MANILA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Monday's hostage crisis in Manila climbed to 10 as of early Tuesday, with another hostage succumbing to injuries in a Manila hospital.
One of the latest fatalities was a woman who died at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, Local Radio dzBB reported.
At least three other hostages were declared dead at the Ospital ng Maynila, four at the Manila Doctors Hospital, and one at the Philippine General Hospital.
The tenth fatality was the hostage taker himself, dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza.
On the other hand, at least six hostages were still being treated in other hospitals in Manila.
For more than 11 hours Monday, Mendoza attracted international attention by holding hostage at least 21 tourists from Hong Kong. Monday's incident drew sharp criticism against the police's handling of the case.
President Benigno Aquino III himself said he was not satisfied with the way the incident was handled.
Even the business community was also not pleased with the bloody way the incident ended, according to a report by dzBB's Denver Trinidad.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-08/24/c_13459193.htm
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The police team that boarded the bus was shooting indiscriminately into the bus.
What are the chances that the hostages was killed by friendly fire?
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I must say that the philipines police handled the situation very poorly.
They had total control of the situation, but somehow, they screwed it up.
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What would singapore do if that bus were filled with singaporean tourists?