Police investigate reports of kidnapping of 3 along Quirino Avenue

MANILA, Philippines—Three persons were reportedly kidnapped after their white sport utility vehicle was ambushed in Malate, Manila on Monday afternoon.

The white Kia Carnival with plate No. REC 289 was found by the police at the corner of Quirino Avenue corner Leveriza Street at around 5:30 p.m. Authorities maintained that a shooting happened, prompting the passengers to immediately abandon their vehicle after the attack.

SPO1 Allan Leano of the Manila Police District Station 9 told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that their blotter entry recorded a shooting along Quirino Ave., involving a white car. He further noted that it was not an ambush and that the passengers escaped after the attack.

“The case is still under investigation and we are still determining the motive of the shooting,” Leano added.

But vendors on a market near the area had a different version of what happened.  They claimed that they saw that the three persons inside the SUV who looked like Korean nationals were dragged by several armed men into another car after the foreigners were cornered at the street intersection.

Some eight spent slugs of a still unknown caliber were recovered by authorities from the crime scene.

The shooting caused heavy traffic on adjacent roads, especially along Taft Avenue, as the stretch of Quirino Avenue from Leveriza to Taft was closed to all vehicles. The flow of traffic only went back to normal when the SUV was removed from the scene at around 7 p.m.