Survivor: Gunman in Manila hostage crisis shot victims point-blank

Senior Superintendent Rolando Mendoza, the dismissed police officer who held hostage a busload of mostly Hong Kong tourists in Manila last August, shot the hostages one by one at point-blank, one of the survivors told a Hong Kong court Monday. According to Radio Television Hong Kong, the male survivor who was not identified in its report, told the court “…how a gunman shot the hostages one by one with a machine gun at point-blank range," the RTHK report said. The hostages had discussed overpowering Mendoza but failed to do so, the RTHK report said, citing the unidentified witness. Mendoza was killed during the rescue staged by Manila Police that ended the 11-hour ordeal in on Aug. 23. Eight Hong Kong hostages were also died in the carnage Last week, Wong Cheuk-Yiu, 16, the youngest survivor in the incident, testified at the inquest that the plan to overpower Mendoza was never carried out Wong, whose parents and aunt died in the tragedy, said another teenage girl whispered to her that she had to help should the others tackle Mendoza. She said she then passed on the message to her father, according to a separate RTHK report. Another survivor had told the court of a plan to snatch Mendoza's firearm. Lee Ying-chuen said she and tour leader Masa Tse and Ken Leung — another tourist — were in on that plan to take Mendoza’s firearm. Tse and Leung were among those who died in the carnage. Hong Kong is holding the hearings to determine if the hostages died in the hands of Mendoza, or by friendly fire during the rescue operations. Mendoza commandeered the tourist bus and demanded that he be reinstated as a police officer. More than 100 Filipino witnesses were invited to testify at the hearing, but most had declined the invitation. Earlier, witnesses testified on possible lapses by Philippine police, that they said failed to interview the hostages who were released. Witnesses also testified that Mendoza had no intention of hurting the hostages, but that his friendly demeanor had changed to one who is "extremely angry" when he saw on television his brother — also a policeman — being arrested by the police. — VS, GMA News