Gunman kills eight in Philippines

A man has shot eight people dead, five of them children, in a village near the Philippines capital, Manila.

The man, reportedly drunk, opened fire in Calamba with a M-16 rifle, and escaped from the scene before he could be arrested by police.

Six other people were wounded, after two houses next door to each other came under fire.

Five of the dead were under 12 years old, and police speculated that a family feud was behind the killings.

"When we interviewed the wounded, they said they just woke to the sound of gunfire," a nurse at the local hospital, Rey Enriquez, told the Associated Press news agency.

The shooting comes three days after 10 people were shot dead in a bank raid in the same province - an incident that caused nationwide outrage.

Nine people were found dead at the Cabuyao bank, while a 10th victim died later in hospital.

The contents of the bank's vault were stolen, and despite police checkpoints and intensified patrols, no arrests have so far been made.