People attend a candlelight vigil held Sunday by the Philippine community for victims of the Manila hostage bloodbath in Hong Kong. Anger and grief mounted after eight of Hong Kong tourists were killed in a bus hijacking in Manila, capital of the Philippines on August 23. Photo: AFP

Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents participated in a massive rally Sunday afternoon to mourn the eight victims of last Monday's hostage crisis, demanding the Philippine authorities apologize for the tragedy. They also want a thorough probe done quickly.

Initiated by several political organizations, Hong Kong residents started to pour into the city's landmark Victoria Park around 1 pm local time, despite sweltering hot weather.

"We hope to express our anger to the incompetent Philippine government in a peaceful way via the parade, and urge the Philippine authorities to investigate the case thoroughly to give the victims justice," said a 50-year-old woman surnamed Wong during the march.

Eight Hong Kong people were killed and another seven were injured, with one in serious condition, in the 11-hour hostage crisis in the Philippine capital Manila, on Aug 23.

Vicky Casia, a veteran maid with 18 years' working experience in Hong Kong, said that the incident was a humiliation to Filipinos, and some of her colleagues were affected. Some of their employers' attitude became cold, and some maids were even fired. Casia said Filipinos working in Hong Kong are also victims of the incident.

In a brief ceremony before the march started, the President of Hong Kong's Legislative Council, Jasper Tsang, and other marchers observed three minutes of silence to mourn those killed in the tragedy.

Hong Kong police estimated that some 26,000 people gathered in Victoria Park and even more people joined in the march. The organizers said earlier that they expected more than 50,000 people to participate in the march.

At around 3 pm, demonstrators, including the city's lawmakers, began to leave Victoria Park and marched toward Charter Garden in Central District on Hong Kong Island.

They held banners that read "Deepest Condolences to the Families of the Victims" and "Demand thorough Probe into the Truth of the Incident."

Most of the marchers were in black or white shirts. The march was peaceful and never turned violent.

Xinhua - Global Times