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| 2004/02/26 |
Looters assail Morocco aid supplies
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05:13:09 È.Ù
Morocco, Feb 26 - The scarcity of aid supplies sparked looting Thursday in northwestern Morocco in the wake of an earthquake which left more than 570 people dead and over 400 injured.
At least 50 angry local people attempted to loot two lorries carrying mattresses, blankets, tents and other aid supplies which were about to take off from an airport near Al Hoceima city on the northwestern coast.
The supplies had just arrived on a Moroccan military plane.
Police cordoned off the zone. One of the lorries was looted by villagers in Ajdir.
"There is aid coming in, but we have not been given anything," one man fumed.
A riot broke out also in Im-Zouren, one of the villages most damaged by the earthquake, where residents mounted a truck and grabbed tents.
Some western rescuers and press reports accused Morocco of indifference and lack of coordination, but Moroccan officials said foreign countries had sent too many rescuers and too few aid supplies.
mr/kd
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