Looters arrested as Chile quake toll exceeds 700
Source: Agencies |
March 2, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SECURITY forces have arrested dozens of people for violating curfew after looters sacked virtually every market in Concepcion as Chile's earthquake toll surpassed 700.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet promised imminent deliveries of food, water and shelter for thousands living on the streets.
"We are confronting an emergency without parallel in Chile's history," Bachelet declared on Sunday, a day after the magnitude-8.8 quake - one of the biggest in centuries - killed at least 708 people and destroyed or badly damaged 500,000 homes.
Bachelet said yesterday "a growing number" of people were recorded as missing.
Concepcion Governor Jaime Toha said troops and police arrested 55 people overnight for violating a curfew to halt looting.
Some coastal towns just to the north of Concepcion were first shaken by the quake, then slammed by a tsunami that lifted whole houses and carried them inland and that reduced others to piles of sticks.
In Concepcion itself, firefighters were seeking survivors in a toppled apartment building, a day after they had to pause because of tear gas fired at looters who wheeled away everything from microwave ovens to canned milk at a damaged supermarket across the street.
Ingenious looters used long tubes of bamboo and plastic to siphon gasoline from underground tanks at a closed fuel station.
Looters even carted off pieces of a copper statue of South American independence fighter Bernardo O'Higgins.
Efforts to determine the full scope of destruction were undermined by an endless string of terrifying aftershocks that turned more buildings into rubble and forced thousands of people to set up tents in parks and grassy highway medians.
"If you're inside your house, the furniture moves," said Monica Aviles, pulling a shawl around her shoulders to ward off the cold as she sat next to a fire across the street from her apartment building.
As if to punctuate her fear, an aftershock set off shuddering and groaning sounds for blocks around.
"That's why we're here," she said.
Bachelet signed a decree giving the military control over security in the provinces of Concepcion and Maule and announced a 9pm-6am curfew for all non-emergency workers.
She ordered troops to help deliver food, water and blankets and clear rubble from roads, and urged power companies to restore service first to hospitals, health clinics and shelters. Field hospitals were planned for Concepcion, Talca and Curico.
Bachelet also ordered authorities to quickly identify the dead and return them to their families to ensure "the dignified burials that they deserve."
Defense Minister Francisco Vidal acknowledged the navy made a mistake by not immediately activating a tsunami warning after the quake hit before dawn on Saturday.
Port captains in several coastal towns did, saving what Vidal called hundreds of lives. Thirty minutes passed between the quake and a wave that inundated coastal towns.
The quake damaged houses, bridges and highways in Santiago, the capital, though a few flights managed to land at the airport and subway service resumed. Concepcion's airport remained closed to commercial traffic.
Rescuers yesterday continued their search for an estimated 60 people trapped inside a new, 15-story apartment building that toppled onto its side in Concepcion.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet promised imminent deliveries of food, water and shelter for thousands living on the streets.
"We are confronting an emergency without parallel in Chile's history," Bachelet declared on Sunday, a day after the magnitude-8.8 quake - one of the biggest in centuries - killed at least 708 people and destroyed or badly damaged 500,000 homes.
Bachelet said yesterday "a growing number" of people were recorded as missing.
Concepcion Governor Jaime Toha said troops and police arrested 55 people overnight for violating a curfew to halt looting.
Some coastal towns just to the north of Concepcion were first shaken by the quake, then slammed by a tsunami that lifted whole houses and carried them inland and that reduced others to piles of sticks.
In Concepcion itself, firefighters were seeking survivors in a toppled apartment building, a day after they had to pause because of tear gas fired at looters who wheeled away everything from microwave ovens to canned milk at a damaged supermarket across the street.
Ingenious looters used long tubes of bamboo and plastic to siphon gasoline from underground tanks at a closed fuel station.
Looters even carted off pieces of a copper statue of South American independence fighter Bernardo O'Higgins.
Efforts to determine the full scope of destruction were undermined by an endless string of terrifying aftershocks that turned more buildings into rubble and forced thousands of people to set up tents in parks and grassy highway medians.
"If you're inside your house, the furniture moves," said Monica Aviles, pulling a shawl around her shoulders to ward off the cold as she sat next to a fire across the street from her apartment building.
As if to punctuate her fear, an aftershock set off shuddering and groaning sounds for blocks around.
"That's why we're here," she said.
Bachelet signed a decree giving the military control over security in the provinces of Concepcion and Maule and announced a 9pm-6am curfew for all non-emergency workers.
She ordered troops to help deliver food, water and blankets and clear rubble from roads, and urged power companies to restore service first to hospitals, health clinics and shelters. Field hospitals were planned for Concepcion, Talca and Curico.
Bachelet also ordered authorities to quickly identify the dead and return them to their families to ensure "the dignified burials that they deserve."
Defense Minister Francisco Vidal acknowledged the navy made a mistake by not immediately activating a tsunami warning after the quake hit before dawn on Saturday.
Port captains in several coastal towns did, saving what Vidal called hundreds of lives. Thirty minutes passed between the quake and a wave that inundated coastal towns.
The quake damaged houses, bridges and highways in Santiago, the capital, though a few flights managed to land at the airport and subway service resumed. Concepcion's airport remained closed to commercial traffic.
Rescuers yesterday continued their search for an estimated 60 people trapped inside a new, 15-story apartment building that toppled onto its side in Concepcion.
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