8 killed on hijacked Philippine tourist bus

Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza stands by the entrance of a tourist bus as one of the 25 hostages peers from a window at left during a standoff at Manila’s Rizal Park Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly Hong Kong tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo)

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A tourist bus with some 25 people on board sits parked in front of the Quirino Grandstand during a hostage standoff at Rizal Park Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Senior Police Inspector Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly Hong Kong tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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A foreign tourist taken hostage by Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, unseen, waves as he peers from a window of a tourist bus while a negotiator prepares to communicate with the hostage-taker at Rizal Park Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly Hong Kong tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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A foreign tourist taken hostage by Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, unseen, peers from a window of a tourist bus during a standoff at Rizal Park Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly Hong Kong tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza talks to a hostage negotiator, in orange, during a standoff at Rizal Park Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly Hong Kong tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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A hostage peers from the window of a tourist bus during a standoff at Rizal Park Monday Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Former Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly foreign tourists, in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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A negotiator brings food to the hostages during a standoff at Manila’s Rizal Park Monday Aug.23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Former Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly foreign tourists, in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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Hostages peer from the window of a tourist bus during a standoff at Rizal Park Monday Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Former Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly foreign tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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A negotiator, in orange, approaches a tourist bus where former Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza has taken hostage foreign tourists at Rizal Park Monday Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly foreign tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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Hostage negotiators, left and right, talk to foreign tourists taken hostage by Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza after securing their release at Manila’s Rizal Park Monday Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized a bus, background, in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly Hong Kong tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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Police and SWAT members assault a tourist bus to rescue hostages at Manila’s Rizal Park Monday Aug.23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed policeman armed with automatic rifle, seized the bus in Manila Monday with 25 people aboard, mostly foreign tourists in a bid to demand reinstatement, police said. Mendoza was killed along with an undetermined number of hostages. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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Police and SWAT members secure the scene following an assault on a tourist bus with foreign tourists taken hostage by a dismissed police officer at Manila’s Rizal Park Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Philippine police stormed the bus Monday evening after shots were heard from the hostage-taker of 15 Chinese tourists, and at least four of the hostages crawled out of the back door. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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Police and SWAT members assault a tourist bus to rescue hostages at Manila’s Rizal Park Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Philippine police stormed the bus Monday evening after shots were heard from the hostage-taker of 15 Chinese tourists, and at least four of the hostages crawled out of the back door. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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A 12-hour hostage drama aboard a Philippine bus ended in bloodshed Monday, with at least seven Chinese tourists dead along with the disgruntled ex-policeman who hijacked the vehicle and demanded his job back, officials said.

At least six captives survived, four of whom were seen crawling out the back door of the bus after Philippine police stormed it Monday evening when the hostage-taker started shooting at the 15 Chinese tourists inside, said police Senior Superintendent Nelson Yabut.

He said the hostage-taker was killed with a sniper shot to the head after he wounded a police sharpshooter.

Police and ambulances were lined up next to the vehicle in the pouring rain after the standoff ended. Local hospitals reported seven bodies of hostages were brought in. One other hostage was hospitalized in critical condition, and five others were unharmed.

Officials have yet to disclose the fate of the remaining two hostages.

The crisis began when the dismissed policeman, Rolando Mendoza, 55, armed with a M16 rifle seized the busload of Hong Kong tourists to demand his reinstatement in the force.

According to newspaper reports from 2008, he was among five officers who had been charged with robbery, extortion and grave threats after a Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging the policemen falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money.

Mendoza released nine hostages during the afternoon - leaving 15 inside. Those freed included two women, three children, a diabetic man and three Filipinos - including a tour guide and a photographer, police said.

Despite hopes that negotiations could bring the stand-off to a peaceful conclusion, tensions escalated as night closed in.

Police said they stormed the bus after they saw Mendoza open fire on hostages. Crouching outside the vehicle, commandos in flak jackets, used a hammer to bash in side windows, the door and windscreen, although it was some time before they eventually gained entry.

Moments before the commandos moved in, the Filipino bus driver fled. Police officer Roderick Mariano cited him as saying Mendoza had opened fire at the tourists.

The Hong Kong tourists had been on a visit to Manila and had been due to fly back to the Chinese territory on Monday, according to tour operator Hong Thai Travel Services Ltd.

Mendoza seized the bus after hitching a ride as it traveled with the tourists from the historic walled city of Intramuros. Police said he then “declared he is taking the passengers hostage” when the bus reached Jose Rizal Park alongside Manila Bay - a downtown area of the sprawling Philippine capital where the U.S. Embassy and a number of hotels are located.

Police sharpshooters took positions around the white-blue-red bus, and the road was sealed off, with ambulances and fire trucks positioned nearby. Police brought in food for the hostages as well as fuel so that the air conditioning unit can keep running as the outside temperature reached about 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius).

The standoff was covered live on television. The curtains on the bus windows were drawn and two police negotiators could be seen walking to and from the bus and communicating with Mendoza from the window near the driver’s seat.

A Chinese diplomat had appealed for restraint on the part of the Philippine authorities and not to jeopardize the hostages safety.

Bai Tian, deputy mission chief at the Chinese Embassy who was monitoring the negotiations, said the hostages were “calm and peaceful.” Speaking to reporters in the afternoon, he said they wanted every step taken “to secure the safety and security of our Chinese nationals.”

Mendoza’s younger brother, Gregorio, also a policeman, said that his brother felt that “injustice was done on him” when he had been fired from his job.

“He was disappointed that he did well in police service but was dismissed for a crime he did not do,” he said.

Apart from demanding his reinstatement, Mendoza had also wanted to talk to the Philippine media and asked that his son - also a policeman - be brought to him. He scribbled some of his demands on paper and plastered it on the bus windows and a windshield.

A representative from the ombudsman’s office talked to Mendoza on the phone and had promised to look into his case again, Mendoza’s brother, Florencio, told reporters. Another brother of Mendoza also helped police in the negotiations, Manila police chief Rodolfo Magtibay said.

Law enforcement is weak in the Philippines, and hostage-takings for ransom are not uncommon.

In March 2007, not far from the scene of Monday’s hostage-taking, a man took a busload of children and teachers hostage from his day-care center in Manila to denounce corruption. They were freed after a 10-hour standoff.

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Associated Press writers Teresa Cerojano and Min Lee in Hong Kong contributed to this report.