Bold-faced looters benefit from fire

Prior to the arrival of heavily armed police, it was a free for all as men, women and even an elderly woman walked into the supermarket and helped themselves to items which escaped the blaze. A man used a baby pram to cart away items.

Another man, smiling broadly, walked off with three boxes of baby pampers while another held two bottles of puncheon rum in his arms while deftly opening another bottle of the rum and taking a swig to celebrate his good fortune. The fire, which was first detected at two o’clock in the morning, was doused by firemen but not before it caused major damage to the supermarker which is owned and operated by Chinese nationals.

By six in the morning, word spread far and wide that Benefit the People Supermarket’s front door was wide open and no police were around.

The looters descended like corbeaux around rotting meat, going in empty handed and leaving with hands and arms filled with grocery items. Persons used cellphones to record the looting. In one video image, the looter who had the boxes of pampers flashed a big, broad, proud smile. The video images were uploaded to social media.

When police arrived, looters who came too late to participate in the crime free-for-all, turned back including a woman who walked with an empty bag slung on her shoulder.

The cause of the blaze has not yet been ascertained and conservative estimates, provided by police sources, for the damage caused by the blaze plus the looting were at over $2 million.

Investigations are continuing.