Sunday, February 28, 2010

Looting Starts in Chile

Heavily populated parts of Chile still were without water service and electricity Sunday night because of Saturday's 8.8-magnitude earthquake, and reports of looting raised fears about security in some areas.

The nation's hardest-hit major city, Concepcion, declared an overnight curfew. The death count from the earthquake doubled on Sunday from a day earlier, to 708 deaths.

Desperate people scrounged for water and supplies inside empty and damaged supermarkets. On Sunday morning, authorities used tear gas and water cannons to disperse looters in some areas.