Manila hostage-taking
The Manila hostage-taking was a bloody hostage-taking in Manila on August 23, 2010, in which a hostage-taker took control of a bus with 25 passengers (mainly tourists from Hong Kong). The hostage-taker and at least eight hostages died, at least eight others were injured, and two outsiders were injured by ricochets.
Hostage takers
The 55-year-old hostage-taker has been identified by the Philippine Federal Police as former police officer Rolando Mendoza. Mendoza had won many awards over the years for its achievements, but was dismissed from service in January 2010 for theft, extortion and drug offenses. He attempted to reinstate his previous post and his pension rights by taking the hostage, claiming that the charges against him had been placed on him and that he had no opportunity to defend himself.
course
Mendoza in his old police uniform and armed with an M16 assault rifle got on a bus at Fuerza de Santiago in Intramuros , which was supposed to transport Chinese tourists to the "Grand Lisboa" casino, and asked for a ride. After a short drive, he took control of the bus, which stopped in front of the Quirino grandstand. During the hostage-taking, there were 25 people in addition to the perpetrator on the bus.
At the beginning, the hostage taker behaved cooperatively, so he asked for food for the hostages and asked for gasoline to keep the engine and air conditioning running. He also let a first ultimatum pass without any reaction. In the course of this, nine hostages were released, two women from Hong Kong, three children with their mother, the tour guide and later two older men with illnesses.
The authorities initially complied with the demands, so the deputy mayor Isko Morano spoke to the ombudsman , who had previously obtained the dismissal of the ex-police officer. A letter was later given to Mendoza. In this, the reinstatement was rejected, but according to Moreno Mendoza was promised a hearing. The hostage-taker was unimpressed by this offer and called it " garbage " (dirt).
After the Manila Police Special Task Force arrived, the situation came to a head. Mendoza announced in a live interview with the DZXL radio station that it would kill hostages if the team did not leave. Without consulting the police and armed with a pistol, the hostage-taker's brother, also a police officer, intervened in the negotiations, urged his brother to give up and promised him unauthorized that the special task force would not harm him. Shortly afterwards, however, he was arrested for illegally and armed entry into the exclusion zone.
This arrest contributed to the aggravation, a survivor later reported. The hostage-taker followed the arrest of his brother on a TV set in the bus, whereupon he lost his nerve and opened fire on the tied hostages. When the shots could be heard, the police tried to storm the bus. The attempts were unsuccessful because it was not possible to break the panes. Meanwhile, however, the bus driver was able to save himself by jumping out the window. He informed the officials about the deaths of two Chinese people.
The storm dragged on for over an hour, while shots could be heard repeatedly from the bus. When trying to enter the bus through a rear door, the hostage-taker opened fire and injured a police officer, so that the storm troop had to withdraw again. By flooding the bus with tear gas, it was finally possible to force the hostage-taker to the front of the bus, where he was shot through the window.
The hostage situation ended after nine hours. The drama could be followed live on TV and radio.
As Manila's mayor Alfredo Lim later reported, in order to save the hostages, it was decided to comply with Mendoza's request and reinstate him. However, it was not possible to inform him in time - the situation had already escalated before Mendoza could be informed of the decision.
Reactions
On August 25, Manila Police Chief Rodolfo Magtibay resigned from his post because of the incident. In addition, four persons responsible for the storming were dismissed. The Philippine President Benigno Aquino III declared August 23 a day of mourning.
On August 29, a demonstration with tens of thousands of people took place in Hong Kong . An investigation into the incidents was requested.
Web links
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- ↑ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_PHILIPPINES_BUS_HOSTAGES?SITE=ILEDW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/manila156.html ( Memento from August 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Bus hijacking in Manila: hostage drama kills several people. In: Spiegel Online . August 23, 2010, accessed June 10, 2018 .
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 19, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/08/24/10/bus-driver-hostage-taker-got-mad-after-brods-arrest
- ↑ http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/08/24/10/bus-driver-hostage-taker-got-mad-after-brods-arrest
- ↑ http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/august/25/news2.isx&d=2010/august/25
- ↑ NZZ: Police chief of Manila resigns after hostage drama
- ^ ORF: Large demonstration in Hong Kong after the hostage drama
