Filipino Alberto Lubang, the bus driver who survived the Aug 23 hostage crisis in Manila, takes an oath before giving testimony during a hearing at the Department of Justice in Manila.
MANILA - HONG Kong tourists who survived a bus hijacking in the Philippines have corroborated testimony by the driver that their captor shot the victims at close range, a top official said on Monday.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, head of the government inquiry into the Aug 23 hostage-taking which left eight tourists dead, said five survivors had given statements to Philippine police sent to Hong Kong last week.
'The account of the survivors tends to corroborate the material points, the accounts of the driver Lubang. Meaning (the victims were shot at) close range with an M-16 rifle,' Ms de Lima told reporters.
Bus driver Alberto Lubang told the inquiry last week that, while he was handcuffed to the steering wheel, he saw in the rear view mirror the hostage-taker shoot the victims one by one. Mr Lubang said he used a nail file to unpick the handcuffs and then jumped out the window shortly before police commandos launched a bungled rescue operation.
Ms De Lima said that, based on the survivors' accounts, at least two of those who died tried to fight off the gunman but were overpowered. 'One tried to grab the muzzle of the gun, but was killed. Another one charged the hostage taker, but was also shot,' she said.
'It would appear from the survivors' account that the shooting by Mendoza happened before the assault, that is what is emerging now.' The statement appears to be a reversal of a statement Ms de Lima made last week, when she claimed that it could not be ruled out that 'friendly fire' from rescuing police officers may have also hit the hostages. Ms De Lima on Monday said further ballistics tests were being carried out, although she said Hong Kong investigators indicated that the fatal gunshots came from inside the bus. -- AFP
Share:
0 comments:
Post a Comment