Police killed a gunman who took hostage a group of tourists on a bus in the heart of the Philippine capital, Manila, on Monday, a senior police official said.
“He is dead. He was forced to retreat to the front of the vehicle when the Swat [special weapons and tactics police] team attacked from the back,” assault leader Superintendent Nelson Yabut told Agence France-Presse.
The gunman, who was identified as sacked police inspector Rolando Mendoza, had seized the tourist bus on Monday morning in a desperate bid to get his job back.
At least seven Hong Kong tourists were killed during a dramatic hostage siege in the Philippine capital on Monday, doctors said.
A hospital also received the body of a woman it identified as among the hostages, a member of its emergency medical staff said.
Metropolitan Manila police chief Director Leocadio Santiago said police could not immediately give an exact figure of the casualties and those who survived.
A total of 22 Hong Kong tourists and three Filipinos were aboard the tourist bus when sacked police senior inspector Mendoza seized the vehicle
He released nine people during police negotiations, including two Filipinos. — AFP