-
Policemen recover stolen goods in Concepcion - Source: Reuters -
Related
Residents in Chile's earthquake-ravaged city of Concepcion
dumped new televisions, fridges and furniture on roadsides to avoid
arrest as police prepared to search homes in a crackdown on
looters.
Alarmed by the arrests of 20 looting suspects, people who had
scavenged shops and supermarkets after last week's earthquake took
advantage of a brief amnesty offered by police, who said they were
preparing to go door-to-door armed with riot shields and tear
gas.
"It was a collective psychosis. They didn't intend to do harm,"
said Humberto Cifuentes, 53, a heavy machinery repairman, standing
in his yard looking on as police officers grabbed items left on the
street.
"One person went out to steal, and then everyone followed. This was
not done out of necessity. I can't explain it. It was
unjustified."
Residents in a middle-class, hillside neighborhood in Chile's
second-biggest city watched police, some in riot gear, pick up
sofas, stoves, and even crates of liquor, and load them into pickup
trucks and a bus.
In the days after the quake, some people armed themselves with
sticks and burned tires in front of their homes to deter
thieves.
Police gave residents in Concepcion until midday on Sunday to
return looted goods or face arrest, and had recovered dozens of
truckloads of goods worth around $2 million stolen in the aftermath
of the 8.8-magnitude quake and ensuing tsunamis that killed
hundreds and devastated towns and cities.
They filled a gymnasium floor-to-ceiling with boxed goods ranging
from fans to chairs to stereos.
Images of looters emptying supermarkets and running off with
electrical appliances as well as food shocked many in normally
orderly Chile. Looters even set fire to one supermarket in
Concepcion after a stand-off with police.
"There's no water. Aid is not reaching us. People were desperate,"
said Gonzalo Munoz, 28, who works at a highway toll booth, as he
watched police make an arrest.
"The people were desperate. They grabbed what they could."
Curfew eased
One man shouted angrily at police, saying his house had been
emptied by looters.
"Who is going to answer for this? You?" he screamed, shoving a
policeman. Officers then removed a cooker from the back of a police
truck to make space, and bundled the arrested man into it.
Outgoing President Michelle Bachelet and her government have faced
widespread criticism from survivors, who say they were too slow to
deliver aid and prevent looting amid a series of missteps in the
wake of one of the biggest recorded quakes.
"We will make sure the full weight of the law comes down on those
who committed these crimes," Bachelet said on Sunday. "It is
important everything is given back, that we put our hands on our
hearts and act responsibly."
Jaime Toha, the senior government official in the central Bio Bio
region, said the atmosphere in Concepcion was returning to normal,
and slightly eased a week-old curfew.
"After residents of a sector of Concepcion realized that
prosecutors and police knew where (looted) goods had been taken,
and had arrested some 20 people, many others spontaneously put them
in the street to diminish their responsibility," Toha said as a
midday amnesty deadline loomed.
"We have photographs. For those who thought this was a joke - well
it isn't," he said.
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
