Manila hostage crisis

Manila hostage crisis
The bus on which the hostages were held captive and later murdered
LocationQuirino Grandstand, Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines
Coordinates14°34′48″N 120°58′28″E / 14.58000°N 120.97444°E / 14.58000; 120.97444
DateAugust 23, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-08-23)
10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. (UTC+08:00)
TargetHong Kong tourists on board a bus
Attack type
Hostage crisis, siege, mass murder
Weapons
Deaths9 (including the perpetrator)[1][2]
Injured9 (7 hostages and 2 bystanders)
PerpetratorRolando Mendoza[2]
MotiveTo get his job as a Senior PNP officer back and his benefits along with it

The Manila hostage crisis, officially known as the Rizal Park hostage-taking incident (Tagalog: Pagbibihag ng bus sa Maynila),[3] took place when a disgruntled former Philippine National Police officer named Rolando Mendoza hijacked a tourist bus in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines, on August 23, 2010. The bus carried 25 people: 20 tourists, a tour guide from Hong Kong, and four local Filipinos. Mendoza claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed from his job, and demanded a fair hearing to defend himself.[4][5]

Negotiations (which were broadcast live on television and the internet) broke down dramatically about ten hours into the stand-off, when the police arrested Mendoza's brother and thus incited Mendoza to open fire.[6] The bus driver managed to escape, and declared "Everyone is dead" before he was moved away by policemen.[7] Following a 90-minute gun battle, Mendoza and eight of the hostages were killed and several others injured.[8]

The Philippine and Hong Kong governments conducted separate investigations into the incident. Both inquiries concluded that the Philippine officials' poor handling of the situation caused the eight hostages' deaths.[9][10] The assault mounted by the Manila Police District (MPD), and the resulting shoot-out, have been widely criticized by pundits as "bungled" and "incompetent",[11] and the Hong Kong Government has issued a "black" travel alert for the Philippines as a result of the incident.[12]

  1. ^ "Manila hostage incident victim name list". Hong Kong's Information Services Department Press Release. August 24, 2010. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2010. – For the names in Chinese, see the versions in Traditional Chinese Archived December 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine and Simplified Chinese Archived March 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b Conde, Carlos (August 23, 2010). "Gunman and 8 Hostages Dead in the Philippines". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference IIRC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference robles was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Gregorio, Ann Rozainne R. (August 24, 2010).Timeline: Manila hostage crisis Archived September 23, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. BusinessWorld.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference driver was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Driver escapes, says 'hostages all dead'". ABS-CBN News (in Tagalog). August 23, 2010. Archived from the original on September 3, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  8. ^ Abuyuan, Gina (August 23, 2010). "9 killed in Manila hostage drama". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference ReportDelivery was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Hong Kong inquest criticises Philippines on bus hijack". BBC. March 23, 2011. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  11. ^ MacKinnon, Ian; Foster, Peter (August 24, 2010). "Hostage rescue team 'bungled Philippines coach rescue'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on March 11, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc310 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).