Saturday, December 8, 2012

Philippine typhoon survivors 'loot' shops: Official


TAGUM, Philippines (AFP) - Hungry survivors of a deadly Philippine typhoon looted shops and warehouses in a hard-hit town in a bid to stay alive amid stalled aid deliveries, a rescue official said on Saturday. Local officials monitored the desperate scenes in the early aftermath of Typhoon Bopha's onslaught in the isolated southern town of Cateel, Cedric Daep, a provincial public safety official, told AFP. "The food aid took so long to arrive that the locals broke into whatever building left standing in search of something to eat," said Mr Daep, a specialist sent to the south by the government to help rescue and relief operations. Warehouses and grocery stores were broken into in Cateel, a coastal town near where the eye of the typhoon made landfall on Tuesday, Mr Daep said.