Philippine gunmen haul hostages into remote mountain region

The marina bay of Holiday Oceanview resort on Samal island, Daval del Norte province, next to the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where two Canadian tourists, a Norwegian employee and a Filipina were kidnapped late September 21, 2015.

Manila (AFP) - Gunmen holding three foreigners and one Filipina hostage have slipped past a naval cordon and escaped to remote mountains in the southern Philippines without making ransom demands, police said on Wednesday.

Elite army troops were trying to track the bandits while air force helicopters were readied for a possible rescue as the abductors trekked into Davao Oriental province, a hotbed of Maoist and Islamic rebels, said Senior Superintendent Aaron Aquino, the region's deputy police commander.