Philippine hostage stand-off ends safely: police
Armed robbers in the Philippines who held eight people hostage at a bank released all their captives unharmed and surrendered after a stand-off lasting more than two hours, authorities said.
Four gunmen were robbing the bank in Bacoor city, just outside the Philippine capital, when responding policemen arrived. The gunmen then seized eight bank workers, national police spokesman Agrimero Cruz said.
They initially set free one of the hostages who had a health problem, then released all the others unharmed shortly before 3:00 pm (0700 GMT), Bacoor Mayor Strike Revilla said on ABS-CBN television.
"They have all come out and they have released all their hostages," Revilla said.
"We had negotiations and the robbers were OK. They were calm and our negotiations had the right result."