Sweet-toothed locals have looted a crashed lorry loaded with sugar.
A woman was heard berating the alleged looters as they seized the sweet cargo in front of helpless cops.
The driver of the articulated lorry, which was transporting several tons of sugar, lost control and overturned on the Villahermosa-Cárdenas highway near Cucuyulapa in southern Mexico.
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The cargo spilled across the motorway and hard shoulder on Monday (13 Apr).
The accident blocked multiple lanes and caused traffic chaos.
Within minutes, local residents and passing motorists descended upon the wreckage.
Footage captured frenzied people scrambling around the damaged trailer to haul away large sacks of sugar.
The National Guard arrived at the scene but reportedly struggled to contain the mass looting in its initial stages.
Civilians confronted the officers to question why more force was not used to protect the private property.
One witness was heard shouting, “They are thieves! Why are you allowing this?”
The scene was marked by significant tension as at least one bystander – reportedly a doctor – attempted to stop the theft, only to be met with verbal aggression from the crowd.
The emergency services were delayed in reaching the crashed lorry due to the sheer volume of people blocking the route.
The police eventually secured the perimeter after a significant portion of the cargo had already been removed, as reported by Need To Know.
No arrests were immediately made despite the presence of officers during the peak of the looting.
It’s unclear if the lorry driver was injured in the accident.
It was the latest in a string of scavenging incidents in the region, where overturned lorries are frequently targeted by locals regardless of the cargo or the danger posed by unstable wreckage.
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