Philippines police 'may have shot hostages'

Some victims in a botched hostage rescue of a tourist bus in the Philippines may have been hit by police fire, the nation's top law enforcement official said yesterday.

Eight tourists from Hong Kong were killed and three wounded after a fired policeman hijacked their bus on 23 August to demand his job back.

The Justice Secretary, Leila de Lima, said bullet trajectories and the hostages' wounds indicate that some of the passengers may have been hit by "friendly fire". She did not say, however, whether any of the shots fired by police were fatal.