8 Hong Kong Tourists Killed in Standoff with Former Manila Policeman
N 14° 34.794 E 120° 58.465
51P E 281775 N 1612833
This was the scene of an international incident that left 8 Hong Kong tourist dead after a former Manila police officer held them hostage onboard their tour bus.
Waymark Code: WM9QAW
Location: Philippines
Date Posted: 09/18/2010
Views: 6
The Manila hostage crisis occurred when a dismissed Philippine National Police officer took over a tour bus in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines on August 23, 2010. Disgruntled former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza, from the Manila Police District (MPD) hijacked a tour bus carrying 25 people (20 tourists and also a tour guide, all from Hong Kong, and four Filipinos) in an attempt to get his job back. He said that he was summarily dismissed without the opportunity to properly defend himself, and that all he wanted was a fair hearing.
After about ten hours into the siege, the Filipino bus driver was able to get out of the bus by falling through the driver's bus window and was shown on television saying "patay na lahat (everyone is dead)" before being whisked away by police. The ensuing rescue assault mounted by the MPD and resulting shoot-out was watched by millions on live television news and took around 90 minutes. At the end, eight of the hostages and Mendoza were dead and nine other people were injured. The Hong Kong Government soon after issued a top-level "black" travel alert for the Philippines. The assault on the tour bus to rescue the hostages was widely regarded by pundits at home and abroad as "bungled" and "incompetent"; the Philippine government also admitted that errors had been made and promised a thorough investigation, which they would report to the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong SAR governments.
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