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8 Dead After Philippine Hostage Crisis Ends

23 August 2010 19:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. At least eight people are dead after the bloody conclusion of a day-long hostage crisis in the Philippine capital, Manila, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.
Police in helmets and flak jackets stormed a hijacked tour bus late Monday, using sledgehammers to smash the windows of the vehicle. Former policeman Rolando Mendoza had been holding 15 Hong Kong tourists in a desperate bid to get back his job.

Police say Mendoza was killed by a police sniper, but not before he opened fire on his hostages with an assault rifle. Hospitals and Hong Kong authorities say seven of the tourists were killed and others were being treated at facilities in Manila.

Live television coverage showed at least four hostages being helped off the bus and others being removed on stretchers. The bus driver had escaped as the shooting began.

Mendoza was identified as a former senior police inspector who was fired from the Metro Manila police force in 2008 on charges of extortion and harassment.

Chief Inspector Erwin Margarejo of the Manila police district told reporters that Mendoza was demanding to have his name cleared and be reinstated.

Several other passengers, including children, the sick and the elderly, were released earlier in the drama.
Before the police assault, Mendoza said in a live broadcast over a Manila radio station that he knows the police want to kill him and that they should leave because "I will do the same here."