Free-for-all

Branscombe, U.K.

Thousands of English scavengers descended on a Devon beach this week to loot the cargo of a wrecked container ship. Some 40 huge containers broke open as they washed ashore from the British merchant vessel Napoli, which was damaged during a storm and run aground to prevent it from sinking. Early arrivals snagged BMW motorcycles; the rest took boxes of diapers, toys, clothes, and makeup. British authorities expressed disgust. “I personally witnessed young children sitting unattended in gale-force conditions, with the sea crashing, as their parents blatantly looted things out of containers,” said Acting Receiver of Wreck Mark Rodaway. Police closed down the beach, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said anyone who failed to report the goods they had taken could be charged with theft.

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