Sixteen people died after suspected robbers engaged police in a shoot-out outside the headquarters of a transport firm in Paranaque City, Metro Manila, police said on Saturday. Highway police and special operatives acting on an informant's tip were deployed to the transport firm's office but were spotted by the robbers and met by a volley of gunfire, according to police chief inspector Glenn Tigson's official report. Officers were following the suspects when the gunmen sensed the surveillance and opened fire, triggering the gunfight late Friday near a residential subdivision, Metro Manila police Chief Leopoldo Bataoil said. He said the suspects, some armed with M-16 rifles fitted with grenade launchers, thought they had been cornered and fired at everyone in sight. Eight robbers inside a sports utility vehicle died on the spot after the policemen returned fire. A second vehicle with two thieves on board sped away during the crossfire but was chased by the police. The two robbers later abandoned their vehicle and grabbed a motorcycle from a passing motorist but were intercepted by police who shot and killed the suspects on the spot. A father and his 7-year-old daughter on board a passing sports utility vehicle were also hit in the crossfire and later died. Two other people manning a truck near the office of the transport firm also died from gunshot wounds. One member of the police force and a security guard also died.
