Looters Take Advantage Of Deadly Philippine fire

While firemen scrambled to contain the blaze in the Philippine capital, Looters mobbed pulling roofing sheets and electric wire from singed homes.

Riot police surrounded the White Rock Island shantytown at Manila’s port area after being summoned by firemen who struggled to reach burning homes accessible only through narrow alleys that were swarmed by residents as well as scavengers.

“These are informal settlers trying to make a buck out of salvaged materials,” Aljeph Lorenzo, one of dozens of firemen who responded to the fire alarm told AFP.

“This happens all the time whenever a slum is struck by fire. They interfere with our work so we had to ask for police assistance.”

The looting happened even as firefighters tried but failed to rescue a 16-year-old boy who had been trapped inside a house.

At one point the wall of a burnt shanty crumbled, narrowly missing some looters.