Tribal gunmen release all 47 hostages

Tribal gunmen on Sunday freed all 47 hostages they had been detaining for four days in a mountainous area of the southern Philippines, a government official said. The hostages have been taken to a government hospital for a health check-up.

AFP - Tribal gunmen on Sunday released all 47 hostages they had been holding for four days in a mountainous area of the southern Philippines, a government official said.

Agusan del Sur vice governor Santiago Cane sent a text message to the media after he picked up the hostages from the gunmen's mountain hideout.

"Declaring officially released all of the hostages. Yes at last!" the text read.

The hostages, ranging in age from 17 to 62, were to be taken to a holding area and then to a government hospital for a check-up, Cane said before he went to retrieve them.

Date created : 2009-12-11