ID :
507002
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 10:27
Auther :

Sulawesi Quake: Video Clips Of Prisoners Fleeing And Looting Spree Go Viral

By Mohd Shukri Ishak JAKARTA, Oct 3 (Bernama) – The effects of the devastating earthquake in Central Sulawesi on Friday (Sept 28) is causing “aftershocks of a different kind”. It’s all in social media – prisoners escaping from the collapsed structures of the area’s penitentiaries and thousands of residents, restless and unable to wait for aid to reach them, looting local retail shops, markets and shopping areas. In fact, there are people pursuing vehicles carrying food and stealing food without any shame in the full glare of others watching them. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, while shocked at the images, hoped they were not the work of unscrupulous individuals who wanted to exaggerate the situation. "In this kind of emergency, do not question the little things that really are not a major problem. "If there is an earthquake victim who takes groceries at a store or mini market, it is not looting, but an act of kindness on the part of shopkeeper to assist his distressed fellow citizens," he said from a report on Indonesian media that also posed various polemics . On the report of 1,425 prisoners in Alu San Donggala Prison who escaped after the walls and the prison building collapsed during the earthquake, the Indonesian authorities gave them a week to return to prison. Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the authorities would hunt all prisoners if they did not return to prison voluntarily. According to a statement by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, 1,425 out of 3,220 prisoners in Central Sulawesi reportedly fled after the disaster. Citing local media reports, prison authorities were unable to stop the incidents as all prison officials were also affected by the quake. "Everyone started to run ...ran to save themselves .. to find family members and relatives,” said a prison guard who was not named. President Jokowi was quoted by Kompas.com when visiting Central Sulawesi as saying that the government would be sending essential items and medicines to the disaster area without delay and handle any humanitarian crisis that arises. As of this afternoon, Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency has put the death toll at 1,234 people. The number is feared will rise further as many victims have yet to be accounted for in the wake of the devastating quake and the tsunami that followed. -- BERNAMA

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