Authorities blamed for bus disaster
Hong Kong, Aug. 24: A Hong Kong woman whose husband and two daughters were among eight tourists killed in a bus hostage siege in Manila tearfully blamed the Philippine authorities on Tuesday for the tragedy.
The survivor, who identified herself only as Ms Leung, sat sobbing outside a hospital in Manila after the deaths of her two daughters — aged 14 and 21 — were confirmed.
Her 18-year-old son was in intensive care with a serious head injury, according to media reports.
Ms Leung condemned Philippine authorities for intervening only after a 12-hour standoff with Mendoza, a disgruntled former senior officer who wanted his job back with the police force.
“(The gunman) did not want to kill us. He only shot us after the negotiation failed,” she said.
Meanwhile, in Manila, the Philippine police conceded they had made blunders ending the bus hijacking on Monday.
Commandos fired dozens of bullets into the bus and smashed its windows with sledgehammers as they tried to storm it, but were then forced to wait outside helplessly for over an hour as the hijacker used his captives as human shields.
“We saw some obvious shortcomings in terms of capability and tactics used,” the Manila police commander, Mr Leocadio Santiago, said.
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