Three Canadians Confirmed Dead In Manila Hostage-Taking

Three Canadian citizens, including a father who gave his life in an effort to protect his family, were among eight Hong Kong tourists killed Monday in a deadly hostage standoff in the Philippines that left grieving, angry family members demanding answers from authorities.

Media reports indicated there were at least five people holding Canadian passports on board the bus in the capital of Manila when it was seized by a gun-wielding former police officer, who triggered a protracted and controversial police response when he opened fire.

The three slain Canadians were identified as Ken Leung, 58, and his daughters Jessie, 14, and Doris, 21, all three of them dual citizens who lived in Hong Kong.

Leung, a managing director for Asia operations with U.K.-based electronics manufacturer Stadium Group PLC, held a Canadian passport, a spokesman said from London.

“Ken’s passing is an enormous shock to all of us, and our immediate concerns are for his wife, son and wider family at this most difficult time,” Stadium Group chief executive Nigel Rogers said in a statement.

Leung’s wife Amy Ng, who was unhurt in the melee, said her husband confronted the gunman before he was killed. The couple’s son, Jason Leung, 18, remained in hospital after surgery on a head wound.

“My husband has passed away,” a sobbing Ng said Tuesday as she was comforted by several companions. “My son is in the ICU. I thought I would fight for survival so I could take care of my children, but two of them have already died.”

Two of the Leung children were studying in Canada. Jason Leung attended Bronte College of Canada, an exclusive private school for foreign-exchange students in Mississauga, west of Toronto.

School officials said Jason Leung is a Canadian student who graduated last month and left for Hong Kong soon after to meet with his family.

“He is a nice kid who never got in trouble,” Ron Taylor, the school’s resident co-ordinator said on Tuesday.

Taylor said that Jason’s sister Doris, who was killed in the standoff, was a University of Toronto student.

Tributes to the family soon began appearing online.

“Hope you get well soon Jason, I’m so sorry for your loss,” wrote one acquaintance and Twitter user who described the teen as a “really nice guy.”

Katrina Chiu said she knew Doris Leung only tangentially after the pair attended the same school. She expressed regret for the senseless violence that claimed her life and devastated her family.

“They were innocent people who didn’t deserve to die,” Chiu wrote in an email.

The Philippines acknowledged “inadequacies” in its handling of the crisis as anger over the botched negotiations erupted in Hong Kong with demonstrations and harsh words.

President Benigno Aquino, facing his first major crisis since taking office June 30, declared Wednesday a national day of mourning in solidarity with the people of Hong Kong to “share their sorrow,” his spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

Officials promised a full investigation into how the hijacker — dismissed cop Rolando Mendoza, who was demanding his job back — was able to gun down eight of the 15 hostages on board the bus before a sniper killed him and officers were finally able to get into the vehicle. Seven other hostages survived the final bloodbath, which came after a 12-hour standoff at a seaside Manila park.

Philippine Interior Secretary Jessie Robredo, who is in charge of the national police, acknowledged Tuesday there were problems with how the crisis was handled.

“Had we been better prepared, better equipped, better trained, maybe the response would have been quicker despite the difficulty,” Robredo said.

He added, “All the inadequacies happened at the same time.”

Philippine police had defended their actions — pointing out that officers lacking proper equipment had risked their lives in trying to bring the standoff to an end. But they promised to review all events leading to the deaths.

In Hong Kong, sorrow quickly evolved into outrage, with several of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s political parties leading protesters to the Philippine Consulate.

Demonstrators chanted, “You caused the deaths of Hong Kongers,” and one protester scuffled with a security guard.

“We think the Philippine government used the wrong strategy. We think the operation failed,” pro-Beijing legislator Lau Kong-wah told reporters.

Early Wednesday, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that five Canadians were involved in the incident and that it was aware three of them had died. The department also said the Canadian mission in Manila continues to work closely with local authorities.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon issued a statement expressing condolences for “those who have been affected by this terrible tragedy,” a sentiment later echoed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a stop Tuesday in Churchill, Man.

“I haven’t had a chance to speak to anyone involved, officials obviously are following this very closely and I’m not in a position to give any details, but we do know that there are deaths involved in this incident,” Harper said.

“It is a terrible and a tragic incident and obviously I just want to take the opportunity to express my condolences on my behalf and obviously on behalf of the entire government and the families of those who lost loved ones in this particular tragedy.”

Of the 25 people originally on the bus, 13 of the Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos survived. Nine of the survivors had been freed by Mendoza hours before the gunfire began.

Britain’s Foreign Office said Tuesday that two of the hostages who were released were British nationals.

At the scene of the standoff, family of two dead hostages attended a Buddhist memorial ceremony Tuesday. The tearful relatives trailed monks who walked around bus, sprinkling water around the bullet-pocked vehicle.

Most of the survivors were returning home to Hong Kong along with the bodies of eight slain tourists Wednesday.

One of the wounded will remain in intensive care in Manila, and another will be brought back on a medivac plane, said Hong Kong Undersecretary for Security T.K. Lai.

The rest were to fly aboard a chartered plane to Hong Kong later Wednesday after a Buddhist ceremony and a send-off by military officers at the Manila airport, Philippine Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said.

Workers at a funeral parlour loaded the coffins into wooden boxes for the flight home. They left for the airport in a caravan of hearses led by a police car. A group of about 10 people, hands clasped in front of their chests, hummed a Buddhist chant.

A bedridden, catatonic Tracey Wong told Hong Kong reporters she hid under a seat in the bus while Mendoza fired at the hostages.

“I want to find Daddy and Mommy quickly and see if they’re OK,” the 15-year-old said. But Hong Kong’s radio RTHK reported that both her parents were among those killed, identifying her father as 51-year-old Wong Tze-lam.

Tour operator Hong Thai Travel Services general manager Susanna Lau praised a slain tour guide, 31-year-old Masa Tse, for his vigilance and decade-long service. TV footage showed him peeking out of the bus during his captivity and later one hand handcuffed to a position near the bus door.

Tse had studied yoga in India and wanted to become an instructor, Hong Kong’s Cable TV reported, citing his friends. His Facebook page was flooded with messages of condolences. “I know you did your best to protect members of your tour group. You were very brave. R
est in peace. I will always miss you,” friend Tulip Lam wrote.

With files from The Associated Press.