The family and friends of Yeung Yee-kam, who was one of the victims killed in the Manila hostage crisis on August 23, hold her picture during her funeral at Truibute Garden in Fanling Friday. Yeung and the other two victims, her sister Yeung Yee-wa and brother-in-law Wong Tze-lam, were interred at the site. Edmong Tang / China Daily

Prognosis uncertain for 18-year-old victim of Manila cop turned killer

Hong Kong resident Jason Leung, critically injured in last month's Manila tour bus hijacking, is breathing again, unassisted.

Undersecretary for Food and Health Gabriel Leung told reporters Friday, "Doctors have decreased use of (pain killers). His eyes have shown movement. Jason has also showed movement in his fingers and legs. He doesn't need to rely on a machine to breathe."

The 18-year-old suffered a serious head injury during the incident, set off when a former cop, 55-year-old Rolando Mendoza, who had been fired for "planting evidence", seized the tour bus in a crazed attempt to be reinstated to his job.

Leung, who holds Canadian citizenship, was struck by a heavy object during the last stage of the tragedy. There has been speculation he may have been struck by a hammer wielded by police to smash the windows of the bus.

Eight Hong Kong residents died in the incident. Seven others, including Leung, were injured.

Having undergone emergency surgery while still in Manila, Leung returned to Hong Kong August 26. He underwent another procedure to remove parts of his skull to relieve brain swelling while surgeons made an opening in his windpipe to help him breathe.

Bone fragments from his injury remain embedded in Leung's brain. Doctors have opted not to remove those fragments out of concerns that the exercise could cause further brain damage.

The Undersecretary said it was too early to comment on Leung's health prospects in the long term, since the youth was still in critical condition having undergone two operations in a less than a week.

Leung is the only surviving child of the five-member Leung family. Leung's father and two sisters were killed in the Manila tragedy.

Two other survivors are also recovering in Hong Kong hospital. Yik Siu-ling, 32, who had her jaw shattered and two fingers severed by gun fire, now is able to speak.

She still relies on a feeding tube but is expected to undergo reconstructive surgery as soon as her condition improves. Her twin sister will serve as a model for the reconstructive surgery.

Her husband, 46-year-old Joe Chan Kwok-chu, who is at Sha Tin's Prince of Wales Hospital, suffered injuries to his wrists also from gunfire. He is expected to make a full recovery and will be discharged shortly.

Meanwhile, three of those killed in the incident were interred at Tribute Garden, a site reserved for citizens who have shown extraordinary courage in crisis. The interments in Fanling took place Friday afternoon, following a private Taoist funeral service Thursday.

Wong Tze-lam, 51, his wife Yeung Yee-wa, 44, and sister-in-law Yeung Yee-kam, 46, were all killed in the final moments of the bloody standoff. The couple's orphaned children, Tracey Wong, 16, and her brother Jason Wong, 12, survived the ordeal.

In the Philippines, responding to remarks made by his Justice Secretary Thursday that hostages could have been hit by police friendly fire during the rescue, Philippine President Benigno Aquino said it has yet to be proved, calling on the public to withhold judgment until the submission by an investigation panel are made next week.

"Let us determine what took place before we comment on something that might or might not have happened. Let us not jump to conclusions," he said.

China Daily

(HK Edition 09/11/2010 page1)