Philippine navy honour guards escort the caskets containing the bodies of hostages killed in Monday's bus siege for repatriation to Hong Kong on a flight from Manila on Wednesday. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)

The bodies of the eight hostages killed in a Manila bus hijacking have returned to Hong Kong while a Canadian teen injured in the melee remained in a hospital in the Philippines.

A photo of the Leung family, left to right, siblings Jason, Chung See (Doris) and Song Yi (Jessie) and their parents, Amy and Kam Wing (Ken). (Courtesy of the Toronto Star)

Jason Leung, 18, who graduated in June from a private boarding school in Mississauga, Ont., was in stable condition at Manila Doctors Hospital following surgery on a head wound, one of his doctors, Mario Juco, told CBC News.

Juco said Leung suffered a depressed skull fracture, possibly from being hit on the head with the butt of a rifle after a disgruntled ex-policeman hijacked the bus of Hong Kong tourists in Manila on Monday. Hostage-taker Roland Mendoza, who was armed with an M-16 rifle, was killed in the melee as police stormed the bus.

The bodies of Leung 's father, Kam Wing (Ken) Leung, and sisters Song Yi (Jessie) Leung, 14, and Chung See (Doris) Leung, 21, as well as the bodies of five other people who were killed in the hostage-taking, arrived on a chartered flight from Manila to Hong Kong that landed shortly before 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Some survivors from the hostage-taking were also on the flight.

Chinese officials and members of the media milled about as grieving family members gathered on the tarmac to meet the coffins, CBC reporter Michel Cormier said from Hong Kong.

Calling the hostage-taking "a terrible and tragic incident," Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended his condolences on behalf of the government to the families of the dead.

Leung's doctor, Juco, said neurosurgeons were able to remove bone fragments from his brain and repair a tear in its lining. He said Leung was responding well to treatment.

Leung's mother, Amy Ng, has visited him often and said she will stay in Manila until he has recovered.

Philippine police response questioned

Monday's hostage-taking has caused outrage in the Philippines.

Interior Secretary Jessie Robredo, who is in charge of the national police, acknowledged they mishandled the crisis and were unprepared.

"Had we been better prepared, better equipped, better trained, maybe the response would have been quicker despite the difficulty," Robredo told The Associated Press. "All the inadequacies happened at the same time."

President Benigno Aquino III, facing his first major crisis since taking office on June 30, declared Wednesday a national day of mourning in solidarity with the people of Hong Kong. Flags were lowered at government offices and embassies.

Relatives weep as they lay wreaths on a coffin of a Hong Kong tourist killed in the hostage standoff in the Philippines, as the victims' bodies arrive at the Hong Kong airport on Wednesday. (Kin Cheung/Associated Press)

In Hong Kong, nerves remained raw during what Cormier called "a very, very emotional moment for people [there]."

"People here as well as in mainland China saw the whole thing unfold on live television on Monday. It was ... prime-time drama for everybody. Everybody has a sense that they've lived through this event."

Some Filipinos living in Hong Kong also said they have felt threatened or been insulted since the hostage-taking took place, Cormier reported.

A memorial service is planned for 8 a.m. Thursday in Hong Kong's central square, he said.

Gunman's brother, bullets at issue

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon welcomed the Philippines' commitment to conducting what he called "a full investigation of the incident."

Chinese officials, too, have demanded a full investigation. The Chinese ambassador visited Aquino on Tuesday, and the president talked on the phone with Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang.

Police officer Gregorio Mendoza, younger brother of hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza, is surrounded by relatives during his arrest on charges of conspiracy on Monday in Manila. (Pat Roque/Associated Press)

A major issue is whether the bullets that killed the tourists came from the former policeman's rifle or the assault firearms used during the melee by commandos sent to stop him.

Police officials said the commandos' guns would undergo ballistic tests to determine if some of the hostages were hit by police gunfire.

Authorities have also been criticized for allowing Gregorio Mendoza — the brother of hostage-taker Roland Mendoza and himself a policeman — to intervene in the negotiations.

Gregorio Mendoza, whose gun was confiscated during the standoff, urged his brother not to continue the talks unless authorities returned it. He then threw a tantrum in front of TV cameras, which were broadcasting the daylong drama live, apparently prompting Mendoza to start shooting.

Gregorio Mendoza was later arrested on charges of conspiracy.

Filipino driver Alberto Lubang, who said he escaped as Mendoza opened fire, said the gunman was watching his brother being handcuffed and loaded into a police car on TV inside the hijacked bus.

Aquino on Monday also criticized TV coverage, saying that footage of Mendoza's brother being taken into custody "might have further agitated the hostage-taker."

On Wednesday, workers at a funeral parlour loaded the coffins into wooden boxes for the flight home. They left for Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport in a caravan of hearses led by a police car. A small group of about 10 people, hands clasped in front of their chests, hummed a Buddhist chant.

With files from the CBC's Michel Cormier and The Associated Press