Manila sends 3 bodies to wrong HK families
Source: Agencies |
September 3, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PHILIPPINE authorities mistakenly sent the bodies of three of the victims in the Manila bus hijacking to the wrong families, Hong Kong said yesterday, the latest in a series of missteps in the handling of the crisis.
The bodies of eight tourists killed in the attack were shipped back last Wednesday to Hong Kong, where tearful relatives laid wreaths on the coffins of their loved ones in an airport ceremony - but three families were paying their respects to the wrong bodies.
The three families discovered the mistake when they opened the coffins at the morgue later that night, Hong Kong's Security Bureau said in a statement. The families had identified the bodies in Manila, so it's possible that funeral parlor workers in the Philippines mislabeled them, the statement said.
Philippine Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said she would investigate, adding, "If there was a mix-up of those names, we apologize."
Hong Kongers have been outraged that Philippine police bungled negotiations last week with the hostage-taker, a former police officer seeking reinstatement, as well as the rescue operation. Thousands of Chinese tourists have canceled their flight and hotel bookings to the country.
'Serious failures'
Hong Kong's 60-member Legislative Council yesterday overwhelmingly passed a resolution that declares that the rescue operation suffered from "serious failures."
Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that investigators will begin questioning senior officials today, starting with the deputy interior secretary and top police commanders.
Two survivors in the hostage crisis are willing to cooperate with the Philippine government's investigation, de Lima said.
"There are two survivors who are willing to be interviewed. We are making arrangements," she told reporters, after emerging from the initial meeting of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee.
De Lima said a Philippine team will be sent to Hong Kong to get a statement from the hostage survivors. She declined to reveal their names.
De Lima, who serves as IIRC chairperson, said the survivors may provide information on the "critical and crucial moment" when the hostage taker, dismissed policeman Rolando Mendoza, "started to act wrongly."
The bodies of eight tourists killed in the attack were shipped back last Wednesday to Hong Kong, where tearful relatives laid wreaths on the coffins of their loved ones in an airport ceremony - but three families were paying their respects to the wrong bodies.
The three families discovered the mistake when they opened the coffins at the morgue later that night, Hong Kong's Security Bureau said in a statement. The families had identified the bodies in Manila, so it's possible that funeral parlor workers in the Philippines mislabeled them, the statement said.
Philippine Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said she would investigate, adding, "If there was a mix-up of those names, we apologize."
Hong Kongers have been outraged that Philippine police bungled negotiations last week with the hostage-taker, a former police officer seeking reinstatement, as well as the rescue operation. Thousands of Chinese tourists have canceled their flight and hotel bookings to the country.
'Serious failures'
Hong Kong's 60-member Legislative Council yesterday overwhelmingly passed a resolution that declares that the rescue operation suffered from "serious failures."
Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that investigators will begin questioning senior officials today, starting with the deputy interior secretary and top police commanders.
Two survivors in the hostage crisis are willing to cooperate with the Philippine government's investigation, de Lima said.
"There are two survivors who are willing to be interviewed. We are making arrangements," she told reporters, after emerging from the initial meeting of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee.
De Lima said a Philippine team will be sent to Hong Kong to get a statement from the hostage survivors. She declined to reveal their names.
De Lima, who serves as IIRC chairperson, said the survivors may provide information on the "critical and crucial moment" when the hostage taker, dismissed policeman Rolando Mendoza, "started to act wrongly."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
