MANILA, Philippines — It looked like a hostage rescue in slow motion: Police creeping up on the bus with sledgehammers and smashing first one window, then another, then trying and failing to rip open the door.
When they finally got inside, authorities said, they found nine bodies: eight Hong Kong tourists and the ex-police officer who had seized the bus to demand his job back. At least five hostages were unharmed.
The bloody denouement to the 12-hour drama in the heart of the Philippine capital, witnessed live on TV, rattled a country accustomed to kidnappings and violence blamed on Muslim rebels.
It was 10:15 a.m. Monday in Manila when Rolando Mendoza, 55 and married with three children, hitched a ride with the tourists. He wore a camouflage uniform and carried an M16 rifle but didn’t seem unusual in the heavily policed capital. Then he announced he was taking the travelers hostage to win back his job.
According to newspaper reports, the former senior inspector was among five officers who had been charged with robbery, extortion and grave threats after a Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging they falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money.
Mendoza was fired last year but said he was innocent.
At first, matters proceeded peacefully. The hijacker freed nine hostages, leaving 15 tourists on board.
Police sealed the area and brought food for the hostages, along with fuel to keep the bus’ air-conditioning running in the 90-degree heat.
Then negotiations began to go awry. Mendoza fired a warning shot. Police made an initial attempt to board the bus, and the hijacker shot and wounded a police sharpshooter. Single shots, then a burst of automatic fire echoed through the night.
Shortly before 9 p.m., police lobbed tear gas into the bus and commandos approached the vehicle, crouching beside it and ready to storm it. They smashed windows and the back door with sledgehammers.
Inside, they found the dead, including the hijacker.
