Two Britons survive Philippines bus horror

Two survivors of the Philippines hostage drama were British nationals, the British Foreign Office said yesterday.

The 12-hour ordeal on a bus in Manila ended with the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists along with their Filipino hostage-taker after negotiations failed.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We can confirm that two of the released hostages are British nationals.

“We have offered consular assistance and stand ready to provide it if requested.

“We are not aware of any other British nationals involved.”

No further details of the Britons were released.

The siege happened after sacked policeman Rolando Mendoza, 55, seized the busload of 21 tourists and four locals to demand his reinstatement to the force.

He was armed with an M16 rifle and a pistol.

The ordeal ended in bloodshed on live TV with police storming the bus and killing the gunman after he fired at the tourists, killing eight of them.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said his government was “appalled” and telephoned his Philippines counterpart Alberto Romulo to voice concern.

“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 posted on his ministry’s website.

Philippine police conceded yesterday they had made blunders ending a bus hijacking amid outrage over a bloody assault.

“Of course what happened was far from ideal. Nevertheless, we are congratulating our personnel because, despite the lack of equipment... they risked life and limb.”

According to newspaper reports, Mr Mendoza was among five officers who had been charged with robbery, extortion and grave threats after a Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging they falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money. Mendoza was fired last year but claimed he was innocent.

As negotiations got under way in downtown Manila where the bus was parked, the outcome at first looked promising with Mr Mendoza freeing nine hostages – six tourists, a Filipino photographer and his Filipino assistant.

Fifteen tourists and the Filipino driver were left on board.

But the situation went downhill, with Mr Mendoza demanding a signed promise from the city ombudsman that his case would be reviewed.

By the time it arrived after hours of delays, he rejected it as insufficient.

The Filipino bus driver later managed to escape and reported that Mr Mendoza had fired at the tourists. The gunman was then shot in the head, police lobbed tear gas into the bus and ­commandos stormed the vehicle by smashing windows and the back door with sledgehammers.

Police managed to rescue eight passengers during the ordeal, many of them wounded and one of whom later died in hospital. Mr Mendoza and seven passengers were lying dead, one of them slumped on the bus steps.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong protesters yesterday slammed the Philippines and newspapers accused Manila’s police of incompetence as the territory plunged into mourning for eight tourists slain in a hostage drama.

One Hong Kong survivor of Monday’s day-long bus siege in the Philippine capital said her husband and two daughters – aged 21 and 14 – had been killed as the crisis reached its bloody climax live on television. Her 18-year-old son was in intensive care.

Sources: PA/AFP