ZAMBOANGA CITY, 13 April 2005 — Unidentified gunmen hijacked a bus on Monday, shot its driver and held hostage dozens of passengers after police cornered them on a remote village in the southern Philippine port city of General Santos, officials said.
“They have already shot dead the bus driver and we are negotiating with the gunmen for the safe release of all the passengers.
The safety of all the passengers is important,” said Supt. Alfredo Toroctocon, the city’s police chief.
He did not say what triggered the gunmen to kill the driver or if there were any passengers hurt in the shooting. Police forces have surrounded the bus on a highway in the city’s outskirts near the town of Malungon in Sarangani province, he said.
The bus was on its way to Davao City in the north from General Santos when the gunmen, who posed as passengers, announced the holdup and then commandeered the vehicle.
Policemen, who learned about the heist, gave chase and caught up with them. It was not immediately known how many gunmen were inside the bus, but they demanded the police to provide them another driver for their escape, Toroctocon said.
