Author: Agence France-Presse Source: AFP Date: Monday, March 1, 2010 CONCEPCION, Chile -- Troops fired teargas and imposed a curfew Monday to stop looters running off with trolleyloads of goods from the wreckage of Chile's quake as rescuers scrabbled through rubble for survivors. As President Michelle Bachelet said she expected the death toll of 708 to rise, the scale of the devastation wrought by Saturday's 8.8-magnitude quake was becoming clear from seaside towns and villages engulfed by giant waves. State television reported that more than 300 bodies had been found in the swamped fishing village of Constitucion alone, leaving survivors to stare in disbelief at the seaweed clinging to what was left of their livelihoods. The mayor of Chile's worst-hit main city of Concepcion pleaded urgently for help as rescuers with heat detectors hunted for dozens of people believed to be trapped in a 15-story apartment block toppled on its side by the quake. The army was also called in to help the overwhelmed police force deal with looters, some of whom dragged shopping trollies full of provisions while others made off with plasma TVs and electrical appliances. Guillermo Ramirez, military commander of the central Maule region, sent soldiers with megaphones to warn the 500,000 inhabitants of Concepcion of the dusk-to-dawn curfew they had to observe. "I would advise criminals not to mess with the armed forces. Our response will be severe, but within the context of the law," he told would-be looters. As they struggled to keep order, the troops fired tear-gas and water cannons on res [...] http://uswgo.com mirrored article goto http://uswgo.com/censorship/
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