HK brings home bodies of hostage victims
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A chartered plane, carrying the bodies of the eight victims, victims' relatives and survivors in the hostage crisis in Philippine capital Manila, arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport on Wednesday evening.
Following the arrival, an around-90-minute condolence ceremony was held at the airport, with a senior Hong Kong official and the victims' relatives laying wreaths on the coffins.
In a speech after the ceremony, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong government Henry Tang urged the Philippine government to provide a detailed account of the causes of death and injury.
Coming Home
The chartered plane of Cathay Pacific flight number CX 2903, which carried the coffins bearing the bodies of the victims, victims' relatives, several survivors and their kins, arrived in Hong Kong at 7:50 p.m. local time (1150 GMT).
The chartered flight took off around 6:19 p.m. local time in Manila after a brief farewell ceremony.
The eight slain Hong Kongers and the survivors were among the 21 Hong Kong tourists who were caught in a 11-hour hostage crisis in Manila on Monday. It ended on Monday night with eight hostages killed and seven others injured, one of whom still in critical condition.
Upon arrival, Henry Tang, along with President of Hong Kong's Legislative Council Jasper Tsang, Governor of the Non-official Members of Hong Kong's Executive Council Leung Chun-ying, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lu Xinhua, and deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong Li Gang, stepped onto the plane to receive them home.
After that, a solemn and heart-stricken ceremony was staged at the airport, which was live broadcast by the city's main TV stations.
Pulled by trailers, coffins of the eight dead Hong Kongers, batch by batch separated by family, passed and stopped before a crowd of officials and families amid mournful music.
Tang and tearful family members of the eight victims laid wreaths on the coffins of the eight victims, before the bodies were sent to Kwai Chung Public Mortuary.
Some of the injured were sent to local hospitals, where Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang later visited them.
Call For Thorough Investigation
In a brief speech, Henry Tang expressed his sorrow and concern for the affected families and promised the city's government will provide whatever assistance they require.
"We have been overwhelmed by grief in the past three days. Tonight we receive with heavy hearts the victims of this tragedy and their families back from the Philippines," Tang said.
The official said he hoped Jason Leung, who was still under observation in hospital in Manila after an operation on a gunshot wound to the head, and his mother would return to Hong Kong as soon as possible.
Tang said Hong Kong would continue to urge the Philippine authorities to conduct a comprehensive, thorough and impartial investigation into the incident.
"The truth is the best consolation to the victims and their families. The Hong Kong government stands ready to offer our full assistance and support to the Philippine authorities during the course of investigation," he said.
Tang said it was imperative the investigation report should at least give a detailed account of the whole incident, including the negotiation process, the police actions, and a detailed account of the causes of death and injury, whether they were all caused by shots fired by the gunman or otherwise.
Hong Kong's government would convey to the Philippine authorities issues that it believed should be addressed in the investigation, he said.
"The President of the Philippines (Benigno Aquino III) has promised the Chief Executive (of Hong Kong) and Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao to conduct a fair and full investigation of the incident and provide the report to Hong Kong as soon as possible," Tang added.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong continued to be locked in deep sorrow and anger over Monday's abduction tragedy, as the city's media unveiled more details of the incident and continued to question the Philippine police on the handling of the incident.
City-wide Mourning On Thursday
Hong Kong will hold a city-wide memorial service Thursday to mourn the eight victims, the government said in a statement. Chief Executive Donald Tsang will lead a mourning ceremony to be held at the city's landmark Golden Bauhinia Square.
The State Council, or China's cabinet, has advised the HKSAR government that the national flags displayed at all the city's government offices and Central People's Government offices in Hong Kong will be flown at half-mast on Thursday.
The mourning ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square will start at 8 a.m. local time when the national flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be hoisted and then lowered and flown at half-mast.
Tsang will lead principal officials of the city's government to observe a 3-minute silence.
The spokesperson called on Hong Kong's 7 million residents across the city to participate in the ceremony or mourn the dead at the same time in other ways.
According to the spokesperson, during the mourning ceremony all governmental services except for the emergency and entry-exit services will be suspended, and public servants will join in the mourning at their working venues.
The 21 Hong Kong tourists along with four Filipinos including a driver and a guide on board a bus were taken hostage by a dismissed Filipino policeman on Monday morning.
The hijacker was killed by police in a rescue operation after he shot dead several hostages.
