Manila Bus Hostage Situation Ends

Mar 28, 07:58 AM

Current Headlines: Two armed men who commandeered a bus carrying 32 preschoolers and two teachers in Manila surrendered Wednesday and released the hostages unharmed.

One of the alleged hijackers was Jun Ducat, a 60-year-old day-care center operator who used a cell phone and handmade signs to speak with police and journalists. He and an unidentified accomplice surrendered with raised hands after an 8-hour standoff with police, a BBC correspondent reported.

We have 2 grenades, an Uzi and a .45-caliber pistol, one of their handmade signs said.

Ducat said he had no intention of harming the children and denounced the government and demanded better housing and education for the 145 children at his center, CNN reported. There was no information on Ducat's partner.

One child who felt sick was released and police had to restrain frantic parents who crowded around the bus outside city hall. Several thousand people had gathered around the site by the time the men surrendered, the BBC said.

In the 1980s, Ducat took two Roman Catholic priests hostage over a pay dispute, CNN said.