HONK KONG - Rumors about violent revenge have spread panic in Hong Kong's Filipino community following a hostage crisis in Manila earlier this week in which eight Hong Kong tourists lost their lives, a news report said Saturday. Filipinos have been bombarded with test messages falsely claiming a maid had been shot dead, another had suffered an acid attack and that there had been mass sackings, the South China Morning Post reported.

Messages claiming the attacks were revenge for Monday's hostage crisis have been circulating since Thursday, the newspaper said.

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So far only two maids have been sacked by employers angry at the Philippine police and government over their handling of the hostage crisis, unions said.

Hong Kong newspapers and politicians have strongly condemned Manila police and officials, saying their actions led to the deaths of the hostages held on a tour bus by a sacked policeman.

A protest march planned for Sunday is expected to pass through areas where maids gather on their day off. Organizers insist it will be peaceful.

Hong Kong is home to more than 125,000 live-in maids from the Philippines who do housework and child care duties for a government-set minimum wage of around US$460 a month.