Fifteen Hong Kong tourists, three of whom are children, survived the ordeal. Eight were injured - two of whom are critical condition and they are being treated in local hospitals. The rest were billeted in a hotel where they underwent a "stress debriefing" by Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman.
The hostage-taker, former Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, was killed after local police assaulted the bus to save the hostages.
The Hong Kong government is dispatching a chartered plane to transport family members of the tourists involved in the abduction.
Medics, community volunteers and psychologists were also onboard to help the victims.
Shortly after the incident ended around 9 p.m. local time, the Security Bureau of the Hong Kong government has issued a "Black Outbound Travel Alert" for the Philippines, urging Hong Kong residents to avoid all travel to the country.
The black alert is the highest level of Hong Kong's three-sign Outbound Travel Alert system, indicating a "severe threat" exists and all travel to the destination should be avoided.
The Hong Kong government said it has asked the Travel Industry Council to forward messages to Hong Kong's tour groups still in the Philippines, requiring them to come back to Hong Kong as soon as possible.
Mendoza, brandishing an M-16 rifle, hijacked a tourist bus Monday morning, around 10 a.m. There were 25 people onboard, 22 were Hong Kong tourists, three others were Filipinos: a bus driver, a translator and a photographer. The abduction was held near Rizal Park, a major tourist site in Manila.
Mendoza was dismissed from service for extortion and forcing a chef to swallow "shabu." He hostaged the bus, demanding local officials to reinstate him.
Local police went to the scene and cordoned the area. Two police officers, Superintendent Orlando Yebra Jr. and Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador negotiated with Mendoza. After hours of talks, Mendoza freed seven tourists, the Filipino translator and the photographer.
Senior Police Officer 2 Gregorio Mendoza, the brother of hostage-taking cop, joined the negotiations, urging him to surrender peacefully.
Gregorio walked away from the negotiations within five minutes, telling his brother "Walang mangyayari dito (Nothing will happen here)."
The bus driver managed to escape from captivity around 7:30 pm, local time. He claimed that Mendoza killed the remaining 15 hostages. This spurred the police to assault the bus, killing Mendoza.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said Monday night he was very sad and disappointed over the tragedy and the losses of lives of Hong Kong residents and felt very angry over the deeds of the thug. He extended condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the incident.
Tsang said his government would provide everything needed to assist those families to overcome current difficulties.
Tsang said Hong Kong would lower the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at half-mast to mourn the death of the seven tourists, adding that his government would ask the Philippine government to explain the incident.
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