Girl, 5, rescued from kidnappers

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A five-year-old girl was rescued from her kidnappers on Friday night.

One of the captors was killed while another was wounded in a firefight with responding police and military operatives in a village in Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte, police said yesterday.

Superintendent Rogelio Alabata, Zamboanga peninsula police spokesman, said the suspects, who were armed with a .45-caliber pistol and a grenade, seized the girl in Barangay Mucas in Salug town at around noon on Friday.

Authorities launched pursuit operations and traced the suspects and their captive after more than nine hours.

Alabata said the suspects commandeered a tricycle to slip past a checkpoint and opened fire at pursuing lawmen, triggering a firefight. 

One of the suspects, identified as Avon Panggaga, 37, was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital. Farhana Mancao Eddai, 32, remains confined at the same hospital.

The girl suffered minor injuries after a bullet grazed her face.

Alabata said the tricycle driver was invited for questioning.