Colombia Sees Bouts Of Looting As Coronavirus Fallout Puts People Out Of Work

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Police stand guard during a government order for residents to stay home, to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus, as a resident walks to a food store in Soacha on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia, on March 25.

Fernando Vergara/AP

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Fernando Vergara/AP

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Edilbert Ariza (left) lost four relatives in a fuel truck explosion in Tasajera, Colombia. He and other local residents had been taking gas from the overturned truck before the fire broke out. He sits next to his nephew, Anderson Rodríguez.

John Otis for NPR

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John Otis for NPR

Edilbert Ariza (left) lost four relatives in a fuel truck explosion in Tasajera, Colombia. He and other local residents had been taking gas from the overturned truck before the fire broke out. He sits next to his nephew, Anderson Rodríguez.

John Otis for NPR

Even before the outbreak, Tasajera was depressed. It sits on a narrow strip of land between the Caribbean Sea and a mosquito-infested swamp. Many residents live in huts built atop trash heaps that serve as makeshift dykes.

Besides fishing, about the only way to make a buck is by selling soft drinks to motorists on the highway, but there’s no longer much traffic due to the pandemic. That may be why residents were willing to risk their lives to steal fuel, says Edilbert Ariza, who grew up in the village and lost four relatives in the explosion.

Ariza says his loved ones were just scraping by and figured they could make some easy money by selling the gas. Shaking his head, Ariza says: «Look at the consequences.»

• coronavirus lockdown
• Coronavirus in South America
• Coronavirus in Latin America
• coronavirus pandemic
• COVID-19
• Colombia
• looting