Troops storm hijacked bus in Philippines

Security forces have surrounded the bus held hostage by a former police officer in Manila after gunshots were heard from inside the vehicle.

According to reports, the driver of the bus who escaped earlier claimed that all the remaining 15 hostages have been killed by a man identified as former Senior Inspector Rolando Mendozaby.

Ten of them were earlier freed by the hostage taker.

Earlier on Monday, Mendozaby, armed with an automatic rifle seized a bus with 25 passengers, most of them Hong Kong tourists, aboard in the Philippine capital in a bid to demand his reinstatement, police said.

Police sharpshooters took positions around the white-blue-red bus, which was parked near a downtown Manila park, and negotiations to free the hostages were under way, deputy director of Manila police Alex Gutierrez said.

Two of the Hong Kong tourists, both women, were released and were being debriefed by police, Manila police chief Rodolfo Magtibay said. Police had earlier reported that the tourists were from South Korea but later corrected themselves.
Meanwhile, the city's police have taken Mendozaby's brother into custody.