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| Southeast Asia |
| Four dead after hostage crisis in Philippines |
| 2003-10-07 |
| Three policemen and a Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrilla have been killed at the end of a hostage crisis in the Philippine national police headquarters. "Three policemen and the hostage taker were killed," said police chief investigator Eduardo Matillano, adding that three other officers were wounded in the three-hour hostage crisis. The Abu Sayyaf guerrilla, identified as Buyungan Byngkak, was being held for the bombing of a southern Philippines pub that left several people including a US serviceman dead last year. He grabbed a rifle from a guard to begin a three-hour standoff with hundreds of police special forces men outside the jail. One police hostage was shot in the head while two of the police officers who came to his aid were killed as they stormed the building, police spokesmen said. The hostage-taker was later shot dead, while three other policemen were wounded, Mr Matillano said. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 ...an early morning walk outside because that "is one of the privileges supposed to be afforded to any detainee." Sounds like a privilege which needs to be revoked for high-security risk prisoners don't you think? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2003-10-7 11:44:04 AM |
| #2 Details: National police chief Hermogenes Ebdane swiftly ordered the relief of Superintendent Rosueto Ricaforte, chief of the division where the hostage-taking occurred. Asked by reporters about the handling of the incident, a visibly irritated Ebdane retorted, "this isn't like a movie." He said Bungkak and several other detainees had been let out of the prison building without handcuffs for an early morning walk outside because that "is one of the privileges supposed to be afforded to any detainee." Bungkak then allegedly grabbed an M-16 rifle and a pistol from one of the jail guards and took cover in another building in the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group compound. Elite Special Action Force members, garbed in black and carrying a battering ram, surrounded the building. Tear gas was fired before the building was stormed. A police hostage was shot in the head while two of the officers who came to his aid were also killed as they stormed the building where Abu Sayyaf member Buyungan Bungkak was holed up, police spokesmen said. Three other policemen were also wounded in the firefight on Camp Crame, which ended when the detainee was cornered and shot dead in a bathroom, said police chief investigator Eduardo Matillano. In response to the fiasco, Arroyo ordered the government to speed up the construction of a maximum security jail in the police headquarters that was begun after al-Ghozi's escape. I'd begin the investigation with the guard who let his rifle and pistol be "grabbed". |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-7 9:20:10 AM |
| #1 Learning prisoner handling procedures the hard way... |
| Posted by: PBMcL 2003-10-7 1:31:57 AM |