Looters in Chile handed back stolen goods worth $2 million as the country mourned the hundreds killed in last month's earthquake and tsunami.
Pressed by police and military patrols, Chileans returned hundreds of television sets, washing machines and other electronic and furniture items stolen from stores and warehouses.
The looting broke out in the wake of the devastating 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on February 27.
That and rioting led to curfews and the deployment of some 14,000 soldiers - a move unprecedented in the country since the 17-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet ended in 1990.
President Michelle Bachelet visited a depot of returned goods over the weekend, promising justice.
"This looting has nothing to do with survival," Ms Bachelet said, estimating the total value of the objects to be almost $2 million.
"It had everything to do with people trying to make a profit on the suffering of others," she said, promising to apply the full weight of the law on looters.
Meanwhile, the national blue, red and white flag fluttered at half-mast from buildings across the country at the start of three days of national mourning, in a week in which president-elect Sebastian Pinera was due to be sworn in.
Religious ceremonies, some taking place in the open air, brought Chileans together to remember their dead - now officially estimated at 452 after officials revised down a first toll of 802 when some missing turned up alive.
Ms Bachelet winds up a four-year term this week, facing criticism for a slow response to the quake.
More than 60 percent of residents in Chile's capital Santiago believed the government response was "slow or inefficient," according to a survey published in Chilean national newspaper El Mercurio.


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