China, the Philippines mourn hostage crisis victims

Leaders of China and the Philippines have expressed deep sorrow over the hostage crisis that ended in the deaths of nine tourists from Hong Kong.

A working team sent by the Chinese government is now in Manila to deal with the aftermath.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao expressed their condolences on Tuesday to the families of the Hong Kong tourists killed during Monday’s hostage crisis in the Philippines.

In a joint letter to Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Hu and Wen expressed their deep sorrow for the families of those killed and consolation for the injured.

“We are in grave shock and grief on hearing that eight Hong Kong compatriots fell and many others were injured in the Manila hostage incident,” the letter said. One of the injured later died in the hospital.

“We hereby express our grave condolences and our deep sympathy to the families of the Hong Kong compatriots, and we hope the injured will recover soon,” the letter said.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has declared August 25 a day of national mourning for the victims of the hostage crisis.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, during a telephone conversation with his Philippine counterpart Alberto Romulo, said the Chinese government was shocked about the incident, deplored the slaying of the Hong Kong tourists and strongly condemned brutality against innocent tourists.

The Chinese government demanded the Philippine government launch a thorough investigation into the incident and inform the Chinese side of related details as soon as possible, he said.

(Xinhua)