POLICE IN THE PHILIPPINES have defended their handling of yesterday’s hostage situation in Manila, but admitted that mistakes were made.

Nine tourists from Hong Kong were killed after a gunman took control of a bus in the city.

The man who hijacked the tourist bus with 25 passengers on board was shot dead by police during a siege on the vehicle last night. He had released nine of the hostages earlier in the day.

Philippine commandos tried to storm the vehicle after the bus driver escaped and claimed that all the hostages had been killed.

Their attempt was blocked by the gunman, who proceeded to use the hostages as human shields for half an hour before the second assault by authorities.

China has called for an investigation into the incident as Hong Kong marked the deaths of its citizens with lowered flags and a 10-minute memorial ceremony before the opening of the stock exchange.

Police commander Leocadio Santiago told local television he intended to launch an investigation:

We saw some obvious shortcomings in terms of capability and tactics used or the procedure employed and we are now going to investigate this.

Two Britons were among the surviving hostages.

This Al Jazeera video shows some of the final assault by police on the vehicle, and the rescue of some of the hostages alive: