Hong Kong tourists in the Philippines were taken hostage by an ex-officer. Eight were left dead. From the Associated Press:
China warned travelers over travel to the Philippines and demanded answers Tuesday over how eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a hostage stand-off in Manila following a day of botched negotiations.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said his government was “appalled” and phoned his Philippine counterpart to voice concern. Hong Kong residents expressed outrage and media there denounced Philippine police as incompetent.
President Benigno Aquino III presented to China’s ambassador to the Philippines the preliminary investigation into Monday’s hostage saga in which a dismissed policeman armed with a M16 rifle and a pistol seized a busload of 21 Hong Kong tourists and four locals to demand his reinstatement on the force.
The ordeal ended in bloodshed on live TV with police storming the bus and killing the gunman, 55-year-old Rolando Mendoza, after he fired at the tourists, killing eight of them.
See a previous CDT post on the incident here.
