MANILA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - An armed former policeman has taken hostage a bus with foreign tourists in downtown Manila on Monday, demanding his reinstatement to the force.
Several tourists, including three children, have been released from the bus, according to officials and media reports. Metro Manila police chief Leocadio Santiago told DZMM radio station the gunman had released two people, while television footage later showed three children leaving the bus, escorted by some adults. It was not immediately clear if the adults were also from the bus or local officials.
Santiago said the gunman was a former police officer who had been dismissed from the force, and he had demanded to have his name cleared and be reinstated.
A Reuters photographer at the scene said he had seen two women leave the bus.
"They are all safe, no untoward incident has been reported," Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno told radio station DZMM of the tourists on the bus.
An official from the bus operator Hong Thai Travel said there were 20 tourists — most of them from Hong Kong –a tour leader and a guide on the bus.
"We still don’t have many details," general manager Susanna Lau told Hong Kong’s Cable TV by telephone.
"As far as we know, so far all the tourists are safe." Radio station BZBB had reported that 25 foreign tourists, including some children, and three Filipinos were on the bus when the heavily-armed man boarded it in downtown Manila.
The bus was stopped across the eight-lane park road in front of the Quirino grandstand, where President Benigno Aquino III had taken his oath of office on June 30.
The road was cordoned off, with the bus isolated inside the park. Nearby construction work was halted.
A sizeable crowd has gathered. Several ambulances and a fire engine were on standby about 500 metres away, behind the police line.
