Market 'cleaned out' as cops, soldiers watch

As the government's disaster coordination began clearing away mountains of scattered rubble and rotting flotsam, hordes of survivors in Banda Aceh took the opportunity to "clean out" several stores in the Pasar Atjeh market, near the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque.

This group of mostly school-aged children were seen running for their lives after someone screamed "tsunami, tsunami!" in the crowded market, followed by several gun shots (see photo).

"I just took these dirty clothes for us to wear," said Azizah, a displaced mother from Aceh Besar, while carrying a sack smeared with black mud and her daughter.

"But then a man carrying a gun began hitting us and chased us away," she said.

Ayu, 15, another survivor who is now living in a displaced persons shelter, said she took clothes, glassware and kitchenware for her fellow refugees, as they did not have enough at the camp.

The police and soldiers "guarding" the market, did nothing to stop the looting, even when a man armed with iron rod beat two men who were trying to get away in a pedicab filled with all manner of swag. -- JP/Ruslan Sangadji