Chile struggles to prevent looting

Chilean authorities have rushed thousands of more troops to earthquake-ravaged towns across the country in a bid to contain mass looting and unrest triggered by Saturday's devastating earthquake. Michelle Bachelet, the country's president, has doubled the number of troops patrolling the worst hit areas to 14,000. Chile was hit by another aftershock on Tuesday morning, frightening many people already traumatised by Saturday's 8.8 magnitude earthquake. Bachelet met with her cabinet ministers and said authorities were flying hundreds of tonnes of food, water and other essential items into the areas devastated at the weekend. She rejected criticism of the government's handling of the disaster, which has so far officially killed at least 723 people. "We understand your urgent suffering, but we also know that  these are criminal acts that will not be tolerated," Bachelet said. Her comments came amid growing anger that in some areas troops were standing guard over stores laden with supplies. Meanwhile, the death toll looks set to rise sharply as relief teams reach more isolated areas.