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`Botched bandits' seize bus

Gunmen who seized a bus in the southern Philippines have released all 13 of their hostages but escaped authorities after a two-day hijacking drama, a regional military commander said yesterday.

The three hijackers abandoned a second vehicle that they had been riding in with their hostages and fled on foot in the town of Lakewood, 775km south of Manila.

The hijacking took a bizarre twist earlier yesterday when the gunmen accepted an offer from Pagadian Roman Catholic Bishop Emmanuel Cavajar to drive them to a new location in exchange for releasing some of the hostages after crashing the bus.

Cavajar and four of the hostages were left behind in Lakewood while the nine others were freed on the road.

The three men, armed with an automatic pistol, an Uzi sub-machine gun and a hand grenade, boarded a Rural Transit bus near the Sapang Dalaga, apparently with the intention of robbing the passengers.

passengers freed

However, the men panicked when they passed a military checkpoint and instead hijacked the vehicle. They later crashed the bus into a ditch in the town of Labangan.

As the police and military cordoned off the area, the gunmen demanded a new vehicle to bring them to Pagadian to meet with their "commander."

It was then that Cavajar offered to drive the hijackers if they freed some of their hostages.

After striking a deal with the gunmen, Cavajar struck out for Pagadian with the hostages packed in the back of his truck, which was being trailed by several police vehicles. Some of the hostages were released on the road or told to jump from the back of Cavajar's truck.

But instead of going to Pagadian, the gunmen ordered vehicle to Lakewood where they escaped.

The local police director, Chief Superintendent Prospero Noble, said authorities were questioning the freed hostages on the identities of the gunmen but said that he thought the hijackers were just "bandits" who botched their robbery plans.
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