Hostage Crisis

Bloody End to Philippine Bus Hijacking

Seven hostages dead in 10-hour ordeal.

The Philippine bus hijacking drama has ended with seven hostages dead, according to CNN. The hostage taker was shot dead. Rifle-wielding former police officer Rolando Mendoza hijacked the tourist bus from Hong Kong parked near Manila's Rizal Park. Mendoza, donning his police uniform, was demanding his job back after reportedly being fired for extortion. “The gunman said he wanted to have a free lift,” said Susanna Lau, General Manager of Hong Thai Travel. “Then the tour guide stopped him. Eventually the gunman got on the coach and then asked the driver to lock the door.” The gunman wrote his demands on a board and displayed it in the bus window. Sharpshooters were stationed nearby and food was delivered to the hostages onboard. There were 15 hostages on the bus when police stormed it—six tourists from Hong Kong, China, and one a Philippines national. Nine hostages and the driver had been released earlier. Those hostages freed from the bus included a mother and her three children, a man with diabetes, and two photographers.