Mother of Tiananmen terror attack’s Philippine victim still in the dark

Dr Rizalina Bunyi, 55, was killed in terror attack

Tiananmen Square terror attack

Patrick Boehler

Published: 3:01pm, 31 Oct 2013

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The mother of the Philippine tourist who died in the terror attack at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Monday has yet to be told that her daughter has died.

Dr Rizalina Bunyi, 55, along with a man from Guangdong province, was killed when a light-coloured SUV ploughed through pedestrians and police on China’s most prominent square, before bursting into flames. The three occupants of the car were also killed in what state media have since called a terrorist attack.

The , the country’s most popular newspaper, reported on Thursday that Bunyi’s family has kept the news of her death from her 83-year-old mother so far. The family did not know when to tell her, the report said, as she was waiting for her daughter to follow up on her promise to have her television set repaired.

Bunyi worked as a medical practitioner on the outskirts of the capital Manila. An employee of the Our Lady of the Pillar Medical Centre in Imus said they were aware of her passing and declined to provide further information.

Her husband Nelson Bunyi and daughters Francisca Ysabel, 23, and Mikaella, 21, are among the 38 wounded in the attack. They are being treated in the Tongren Hospital in Beijing’s Dongcheng district.

Their trip to Beijing was scheduled to end on Thursday. The couple had travelled to the Chinese capital to reward their daughters, both medical students, on their accomplishments in school, Bunyi’s father Rodrigo Camia told Philippine press.\

The Philippine Embassy in Beijing could not be reached for comment.

Video: Scenes from the Tiananmen Square car crash

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