Relatives of the eight Hong Kong tourists who were killed in the hostage crisis kiss the ground yesterday near the bullet-riddled tourist bus during a Buddhist ceremony at Rizal Park in Manila.

CHINA warned travelers over travel to the Philippines and demanded answers yesterday over how eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a hostage stand-off in Manila following a day of botched negotiations.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said his government was "appalled" and phoned his Philippine counterpart to voice concern. Hong Kong residents expressed outrage and media there denounced Philippine police as incompetent.

President Benigno Aquino III presented to China's ambassador to the Philippines the preliminaryinvestigation into Monday's hostage saga in which a dismissed policeman armed with an M16 rifle and a pistol seized a busload of 21 Hong Kong tourists and four locals to demand his reinstatement on the force.

The ordeal ended in bloodshed on live TV with police storming the bus and killing the gunman, 55-year-old Rolando Mendoza, after he fired at the tourists, killing eight of them.

Vice President Jejomar Binay and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo will fly to Beijing and Hong Kong to present the final report to Chinese authorities once it is completed, officials said.

Philippine police defended their actions - pointing out that officers lacking proper equipment had risked their lives in trying to bring the stand-off to an end. But they promised to review all events leading to the deaths.

"We will look at whether what we did was right," Philippine national police spokesman Agrimero Cruz said.

Of the 25 people on the bus, 13 of the Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos survived. Nine of the survivors had been freed by Mendoza hours before the gunfire began.

Seven hostages were brought to hospitals, including one in critical condition with a head wound and another whose jaw was blasted shattered. A third had a gunshot wound in the waist. The others were slightly injured.

Britain's Foreign Office said yesterday that two of the hostages who were released were British nationals.

Aquino declared today a national day of mourning in solidarity with the people of Hong Kong to "share their sorrow with them."

At the presidential palace, Aquino met with Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao and later spoke by phone for 15 minutes with Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang, briefing him on the progress of the investigation and assuring him the Philippine government will assist the victims and their relatives.

There was anger in Hong Kong.

At the Philippine Consulate General, several dozen protesters chanted: "Strongly condemn the Philippine government for being careless about human life!"

On Monday, as negotiations to end the stand-off got underway, the outcome at first looked promising with Mendoza freeing nine hostages. Fifteen Hong Kong tourists and the Filipino driver remained.

The situation later unraveled.

Mendoza was demanding his reinstatement to his job as a policeman. He was demanding a signed promise from the government ombudsman that his case would be reviewed, but its delivery was delayed for hours, in part by Manila's notorioustraffic, and when it finally arrived he rejected it as insufficient, officials said.

Police made an initial attempt to board the bus after Mendoza grew agitated while talking to his brother and shot at a police sharpshooter, said Nelson Yabut, head of the assault team.

The Filipino bus driver later managed to escape and reported that Mendoza had fired at the tourists. Mendoza was then shot in the head, police lobbed tear gas into the bus and commandos stormed the vehicle by smashing windows and the back door with sledgehammers.

Police rescued eight passengers, but others were wounded. Mendoza and seven passengers were lying dead, one of them slumped on the bus steps.

A freed hostage who gave only her surname, Ng, told Hong Kong reporters that she saw her husband killed by Mendoza after he tried to subdue the gunman.

"He was very brave. He rushed forward from the back of the bus. He wanted to prevent the gunman from killing people. He sacrificed himself," she said.

She said that Mendoza at first "did not want to kill us, but since the negotiation failed, he shot to kill people."

Philippine Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said the hostage crisis would likely damage the country's tourism industry. "We will have cancellations," he said in a Manila hospital, where some of the former hostages were confined. "I'm hoping it will be forgotten soon enough."

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• ceremony [´seriməni] n.典礼；礼仪；客气 (初中英语单词)
• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
• ambassador [æm´bæsədə] n.大使 (初中英语单词)
• investigation [in,vesti´geiʃən] n.调查(研究) (初中英语单词)
• policeman [pə´li:smən] n.警察 (初中英语单词)
• pistol [´pistl] n.手枪 vt.用手枪射击 (初中英语单词)
• equipment [i´kwipmənt] n.装备，设备 (初中英语单词)
• review [ri´vju:] v.&n.复习；回顾；检查 (初中英语单词)
• slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)
• mourning [´mɔ:niŋ] n.悲伤；治丧；戴孝 (初中英语单词)
• presidential [,prezi´denʃəl] a.总统的；统辖的 (初中英语单词)
• assist [ə´sist] v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词)
• condemn [kən´dem] vt.谴责；定罪，判处 (初中英语单词)
• careless [´keəlis] a.粗心的；草率的 (初中英语单词)
• promising [´prɔmisiŋ] a.有希望的；有为的 (初中英语单词)
• traffic [´træfik] n.交通，运输 (初中英语单词)
• assault [ə´sɔ:lt] vt.袭击；殴打 n.攻击 (初中英语单词)
• crisis [´kraisis] n.转折点；危机 (高中英语单词)
• tourist [´tuərist] n.游客，观光者 (高中英语单词)
• philippines [´filipi:nz] n.菲律宾 (高中英语单词)
• outrage [´aut,reidʒ] n.残暴 vt.虐待；伤害 (高中英语单词)
• preliminary [pri´liminəri] a.初步的 n.预赛 (高中英语单词)
• critical [´kritikəl] a.批评的；关键性的 (高中英语单词)
• delivery [di´livəri] n.送交；分娩；交货 (高中英语单词)
• initial [i´niʃəl] a.最初的 n.首字母 (高中英语单词)
• subdue [səb´dju:] vt.征服；克制；减弱 (高中英语单词)
• negotiation [ni,gəuʃi´eiʃən] n.谈判，协商，交涉 (高中英语单词)
• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
• outcome [´autkʌm] n.结果；后果；成果 (英语四级单词)
• filipino [fili´pi:nəu] n.&a.菲律宾人(的) (英语四级单词)
• notorious [nəu´tɔ:riəs] a.臭名昭著的 (英语四级单词)
• vehicle [´vi:ikəl] n.车辆；媒介物 (英语四级单词)
• incompetent [in´kɔmpitənt] a.不称职的 (英语六级单词)
• ordeal [ɔ:´di:l] n.严峻考验；折磨 (英语六级单词)
• bloodshed [´blʌdʃed] n.流血；杀人 (英语六级单词)
• lacking [´lækiŋ] a.缺少的，没有的 (英语六级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən] n.发言人 (英语六级单词)
• insufficient [,insə´fiʃənt] a.不足的，无能的 (英语六级单词)
• surname [´sə:neim] n.姓氏 (英语六级单词)