It has been more than a week since the Manila hostage killing in which eight Hong Kong tourists died. The incompetence of the Philippine police and the Philippine government handling the rescue of the hostages was blamed for the bloodbath.
Details of the tragedy are starting to trickle out. I am very touched by some of the stories:
A hostage husband Mr Leung died from shielding his wife from the tour bus hijacker’s gunshots. They were a family of five, the couple with two daughters and one son. The two daughters also died in the hijacking killing. According to a survivor, one of the daughters was originally feigning death lying on the floor of the bus. Upon knowing that her bigger brother sitting ahead of her was gun down, she moved out of her reclining position to see how her brother was. She was spotted and immediately gunned down and shot second time by the hijacker.
The family’s only son, suffering heavy injuries to his head is now in critical condition in a Hong Kong public hospital. A Hong Kong top neurologist was sent to Manila days ago who made the decision to ferry him back to the city for care and treatment. His mother, who lost her husband and two daughters in the bloodbath, has been guarding her son.
A nurse was among the first group of hostages to be released by the gunman, who was a former police superintendant, and who was found having committed other crimes before hijacking the Hong Kong tour bus. The nurse was allowed to bring two of her kids with her. She pretended that a third child was also hers and managed to save one more child. Her husband later died in the tour bus. And the child who is not hers lost her parents too in the tragedy.
The Hong Kong tour guide Masa called his tour company in Hong Kong secretly to report on the hijacking once it happened. He was the first to be gunned down. His brother said he felt deep pain seeing the dead body of Masa, who refused to close his eyes no matter how hard his family members tried to make them shut. There is a Chinese saying to describe those having passed away and not having their eyes shut, with the implication of the dead having unfulfilled wishes.
May the dead rest in peace, the injured have speedy recovery, the hurt and the pain be healed, and the survivors live a good life for the rest of their lives.