Naga City store loses cash, grocery items to looting amid Kristine

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Tropical Storm Kristine

In Naga City, a local supermarket loses about million-pesos worth of goods to looters as Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami) battered the region and submerged the store due to flooding on Wednesday morning, October 23, 2024. Cabral Bicolandia Supermart (CBS) said they received reports that people broke into their store and later discovered that their grocery items were completely wiped out. INQUIRER FILES

LEGAZPI CITY — A local supermarket in Naga City in Camarines Sur lost about a million pesos worth of goods to looters as Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami) battered the region and submerged the store due to flooding on Wednesday morning.

Cabral Bicolandia Supermart (CBS) said when they visited the store in Barangay (village) Igualdad at around 2 p.m. after receiving reports that people broke in, they discovered that their grocery items were completely wiped out.

Photos showed people wading through chest-deep floodwaters carrying their own packs from the store.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Tropical Storm Kristine

In a private message, CBS said apart from the displayed goods in the stock room, all money from their cash registers and vault were also stolen.

They noted that even the branded wines and cigarettes were also stolen from their store.

Before the incident, they already had plans to partner with some people to conduct relief distribution to the victims of flooding in the city.

READ: 132 areas under storm signals as Kristine moves across Luzon

“We already have a partner for the launching of the relief operation because, according to our employees, there were many people affected. But our stocks were wiped out and we do not know how to recover from this,” CBS told the Inquirer in a private message.

They learned that a Facebook user posted a photo, claiming that their store was giving away free groceries.

The store management appealed to social media users to stop spreading false claims. INQ