Hong Kong cops to 'take over' tourist bus in hostage case

MANILA, Philippines - Representatives of the Hong Kong police are set to “take over” today the bullet-riddled tourist bus that virtually became a symbol of the bloody hostage incident in Manila that left nine people dead last week.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said the Hong Kong police would conduct their own forensic examination of the bus to determine the trajectories of the bullets to indicate the position of the shooters.

The HK police investigators are the third batch of forensic experts to examine the Hong Thai Tour Bus (TWU-799), where slain former police senior inspector Rolando Mendoza killed eight of his hostages, all of whom were Hong Kong tourists.

The takeover would come after the investigation of the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) forensics conducted their analysis on the crime scene.

Cruz admitted HK forensic experts were initially barred from conducting their examination on the bus last Saturday since the NBI forensics was already inside conducting their own analysis.

Cruz said it was a “light miscoordination with the unexpected arrival of the HK police.”

Cruz explained the rule that two different agencies should not conduct analysis on the crime scene at the same time. “It’s a matter of queuing,” he said.

Cruz said Detective Chief Inspector Larry Wan of the HK Organized Crime and Triad and Detective Chief Inspector Steve Lee will lead members of HK forensic police in conducting analysis on the bus.