In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have captured the city of Bukavu. As government forces retreated, a wave of violence and looting swept through the provincial capital. Now, civilians and the Red Cross are cleaning up the aftermath.
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00:00Here at the Place Feux Rouge in downtown Bukavu, volunteers from the Congolese Red Cross and the ICRC recover two bodies left lying in the street.
00:12The volunteers take the necessary precautions, aiming to prevent the decomposing corpses from causing disease.
00:22Curious onlookers line up to film the unbearable scene.
00:27In Bukavu, it's difficult to determine the circumstances under which people have been killed.
00:33Whether they were victims of rebel violence or, as in this case, looters lynched and burned alive.
00:42It was the population's fierce expression of indignation that made this kind of thing happen.
00:50That's why we're also asking our young boys, who've been stealing here and there, to stop.
00:59In several districts of the city, many business owners were victims of heavy looting after government forces retreated and local authorities abandoned the town.
01:10Prisoners were released and the town was ransacked.
01:14This young man's store was completely destroyed.
01:18I'm so stressed. I've lost everything. Look, even here in the shop windows, a lot of Android phones have been stolen.
01:26Here at the traffic lights, there are more than 50 shops that have been looted.
01:31Street children, our soldiers, we're disappointed. We're very disappointed.
01:35Warehouses belonging to the World Food Programme and UNICEF have also been cleaned out.
01:41Tons of flour, beans, medicines and other much-needed medical supplies have disappeared.
01:48Emergency kits intended to save the lives of thousands of displaced people and malnourished children were plundered in the resulting power vacuum.
01:57There really was systematic looting. Doors were destroyed, goods just taken away.
02:05All the donations earmarked for assistance of people in need, in war and humanitarian situations, were taken.
02:19We must also say this is an expression of misery.
02:22Because these kinds of actions clearly show the population is very hungry.
02:27The government should make much more effort to relieve the population from this extreme misery.
02:37As the week gets underway in Bukavu, schools and banks have yet to open.
02:42Only a few small traders have reopened their shops and a few motorcycle cabs are back on the road.
02:48Meanwhile, the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels now have the city firmly in their control.