HONG KONG — (UPDATE2) Thousands of people joined a rally in Hong Kong on Sunday to demand justice for victims of the Manila hostage bloodbath, as the city’s Filipino community staged its own memorials for the dead.

Demonstrators voiced their anger over the Philippine government’s handling of the siege in the heart of Manila on Monday, which left eight Hong Kong tourists dead amid widespread complaints of police bungling.

“It’s too late for the governments to do anything, but Hong Kong people hope that, at the very least, the Philippine authorities could tell us the truth,” Daisy Kwong, a telecoms firm project manager, told AFP.

“I cried for hours after watching the tragedy played out live on TV,” she said.

The sea of demonstrators observed three minutes of silence as they gathered in a Hong Kong park, many wearing yellow ribbons and carrying white flowers, the traditional Chinese colour of mourning.

The Hong Kong political parties organising the rally, the latest in a series of events marking Monday’s tragedy, said it could draw as many as 50,000 people.

“I am furious,” 56-year-old Law Wai-hing said. “I don’t think we will ever be told the truth when the (Philippine) president (Benigno Aquino) is as appalling as he is.

“I hope the Chinese government and the United Nations can exert pressure on the Philippine government.”