【英语中国】8名香港游客菲律宾遇害

Seven tourists from Hong Kong were killed and eight injured at the end of an 11-hour hostage crisis in the Philippine capital of Manila.

The stand-off began early yesterday after a police captain sacked from the service seized a tourist bus to protest against his dismissal.

The death of the tourists is a blow to the eight-week-old administration of Benigno Aquino III, the Philippine president, who is struggling to attract foreign investment and tourism to a country where almost half of the population earn less than $2 a day.

China and Hong Kong rank as the fourth and sixth biggest sources of tourists but are among the fastest-growing, Philippine tourism statistics show. Tourist arrivals from China and Hong Kong tripled between 2006 and 2009.

Mr Aquino, 50, is also likely to come under fire for the government’s handling of the crisis, which was left largely in the hands of the local Manila police and government officials. The bloody end to the hostage crisis could reinforce criticisms about the lack of executive experience of the president and his newly appointed officials.

Donald Tsang, Hong Kong’s chief executive, told a press conference in the territory that the event was “most regrettable”.

“The way it was handled, particularly the outcome, I find is disappointing,” he said after confirming the deaths. The Hong Kong government has advised people to avoid all travel to the Philippines in the wake of the hostage-taking.

Rolando Mendoza, the dismissed police officer who seized the tourists, was killed by sniper fire after the shooting began and special police forces stormed the bus, according to Leocadio Santiago, the police chief in the capital region.

Mendoza, 55, had been dismissed from the police service after being accused of extorting money from a man framed for possessing illegal drugs.

Armed with an M-16 assault rifle, he seized the bus carrying 25 Chinese tourists and Filipino guides early yesterday to press demands to be given his job back. In the course of negotiations, he freed nine of the hostages, mostly children and an old man, but kept the other 15.

在菲律宾首都马尼拉发生的长达11个小时的人质危机，最终以8名香港游客被杀害，另有7人受伤而告终。

昨日早晨，一名遭解职的警监劫持了一辆旅游大巴，以抗议自己被革职，随后情况陷入了僵局。

香港游客遇害，对于上任仅8周的菲律宾总统贝尼尼奥?阿基诺三世(Benigno Aquino III)政府而言是一个打击——菲律宾近一半人口每日收入不足2美元，而阿基诺一直在努力吸引外国投资和旅游。

根据菲律宾的旅游统计数据，中国内地和香港分别是菲律宾第四和第六大游客来源地，但是增长却是最快的。在2006年至2009年间，来自两地的游客人数增长了2倍。

现年50岁的阿基诺还可能为政府对危机的处理而受到攻击——此次事件主要交由马尼拉当地警方和政府官员处理。此次人质危机的血腥结果可能会增强各界对新总统缺乏执政经验及其新任命官员的批评。

香港行政长官曾荫权(Donald Tsang)在记者招待会上表示，该事件是“一个巨大的悲剧”。

曾荫权在确认死亡人数后表示：“我对事件的解决方法，尤其是结果，感到非常失望。”香港政府已建议市民在人质事件后避免去菲律宾旅游。

据马尼拉警方负责人利奥卡迪欧?圣地亚哥(Leocadio Santiago)称，在枪战开始，特警突袭大巴后，劫持游客的革职警官罗兰多?门多萨(Rolando Mendoza)被狙击手击毙。

门萨多现年55岁，在因涉嫌敲诈一名被诬陷私藏非法毒品的男子而受到指控后，被警方开除。

昨日早晨，门多萨手持M-16突击步枪，劫持了载有25名中国游客和菲律宾导游的大巴，要求恢复原职。在谈判过程中，他释放了9名人质，其中大部分为儿童，还有一名老人，但一直未释放其他15人。

译者/陈云飞