PHILIPPINE AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING the deaths of eight tourists during a bus hijacking in Manila last month have conceded that some may have been killed by friendly fire.

A report of the investigation’s findings is expected to be presented to President Benigno Aquino late next week, according to Al Jazeera.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who is leading the inquiry into the 23 August siege, today said there was a “big possibility” that police killed some of the hostages in their attempts to rescue them.

The bus driver had fled the vehicle before the SWAT team stormed in, and said that the hijacker, former police officer Rolando Mendoza, had shot passengers at close range.

However, De Lima said that forensic evidence has not been consistent with the bus driver’s account. Investigators have established that more bullets were found in the bus than had been discharged from Mendoza’s weapon.

This video shows the SWAT assault on the bus:

President Aquino was heavily criticised in the wake of the siege over the botched rescue operation. Philippine’s Undersecretary to the Department of Interior Rico Puno admitted that errors were made in the operation, saying he was not trained for hostage situations.

Mendoza took control of the tourist bus in a wild effort to force the police service to reinstate him after he was dismissed from the force over charges of robbery, extortion and threats in 2008. He released nine of the hostages, including a mother and her three children, and the bus driver escaped.

Police launched two assaults on the vehicle, shooting Mendoza dead. The four men and four women killed in the siege were all tourists from Hong Kong.