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MANILA: Philippine investigators on Wednesday inspected the bullet-riddled bus where eight Hong Kong tourists died in a hostage crisis, in a bid to establish who was to blame for the killings.
The inquiry board members, a Hong Kong government representative, and the driver of the ill-fated bus arrived at a police warehouse where the vehicle was stored after last month's fiasco.
Spotlights shone on the bus, with long strands of twine protruding from holes to show bullet trajectories as Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and other officials played the roles of hostages in a two-hour re-enactment.
"We can't yet make that conclusion," de Lima told reporters when asked if the panel now knew who had killed the hostages.
"That is a very important point and we have to be careful in making that conclusion," she added.
Sacked Manila policeman Rolando Mendoza hijacked the bus on August 23 in a desperate bid to get his job back and be cleared of extortion charges.
After day-long negotiations failed, Mendoza and eight Hong Kong hostages were killed amid a bungled rescue aired live on global television.
Seven other Hong Kong hostages were injured in an incident which chilled ties with Hong Kong and damaged the Philippines' tourism industry.
Philippine police have insisted Mendoza killed the eight hostages before he himself was fatally shot by a police sniper.
Forensics and ballistics experts are scheduled to brief De Lima's panel later this week before it writes a report to be given to President Benigno Aquino.
She warned the effort will take time to complete, but would not give a timetable.
At one point during the visit, an assault rifle with its bullet clip removed was brought onto the bus to show how Mendoza fired on his captives.
Later, some of the policemen who took part in the assault showed how they approached the bus and fired at the hostage-taker.
- AFP/de
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