Death and devastation in Chile

On the road out of Concepcion, on Chile's coastline blasted by a massive quake and then a killer tsunami, small groups of survivors
wave bits of cardboard on flimsy sticks that say "We need food, we need water."

"We're too afraid to go back there, there's a bad smell of corpses and people say there's a risk of infection," said Bernarda

Loyola, who walked to the pine-covered hills above the popular seaside resort when her souvenir shop was washed away by waves more than 10 metres (33-feet) high on Saturday.

People from Concepcion now are living in tents pitched in the woods, while others crowd the roadside in blazing summer sun hoping
for help.

Machine-guns at the ready, two dozen soldiers stand watch as US aid organisation Samaritan's Purse hands out food parcels to a long quiet queue of needy.

Hungry people means trouble

"When people are hungry there's often trouble. Look at Haiti," says the commander, when asked about the show of force.

Four days after the massive quake and ensuing tsunami, thousands
of troops are moving into place in Chile, generally quiet and
well-ordered in spite of shortages and blackouts, but facing
pockets of severe violence and rampant looting.

Strict curfews are coming into force in major towns.

In this area famed for its beaches and fish, hundreds of
residents and tourists are dead or missing, and Tuesday police from
the Chile Crime Investigation PDI squad foraged for corpses washed
up on what last year was a prime vacation spot.

The welcome sign at the entrance to the town of Constitucion
shows beach umbrellas, boats and sun. Plastered outside the town
morgue is a list of 51 dead.

Death toll will rise

The army chief in charge of area emergency operations told AFP
that as troops and rescue workers move in, the extent of the horror
has begun to reveal itself, and the toll from a string of
tsunami-hit coastal villages could double, to more than 1,000.

"The force of the tsunami was terrific," said General Bosco
Pesse. "Water washed two kilometres (1.2 miles) inland in some
places."

When the huge waves raged ashore in the early hours of Saturday,
beachside restaurants and bars were full in Constitucion.

It was the penultimate day of the summer school holidays and crowds had
streamed to the beach for a fireworks display set for Sunday.

Nestled at the foot of towering cliffs and a giant stone
formation known as the "Piedra de la Iglesia," the resort boasted a
walkway, a playground for toddlers, attractions and stalls.

All that remain are tangled tables, mangled cars and
refrigerators, and a mass of muddied planks, broken brick walls,
twisted steel bars and telegraph poles.

Bits of smashed coloured wood in small piles lie where a kiddie
park used to be. Debris hangs from trees growing on cliffs some 30
metres (100 feet) above sea level.

A large fishing boat lies in the street, a mystifying scene
repeated in several coastal towns and villages raked by the huge
waves which obliterated homes and buildings and left many people
here in shock.

It was powerful

"It was powerful, I can't believe what I'm seeing," said Miriam
Fuentes, a longtime Constitucion resident.

With scores of others, Fuentes is walking about, taking souvenir
snapshots much as the vacationers did and trying to make sense of
the fury unleashed by mother nature.

"Most of us didn't dare come until today, we're still too scared
of another tsunami, of another quake. It's a tragedy to see this
beautiful place we loved turned into a disaster zone."

In the ruins of the resort's top restaurant "El Marbello," where
a muddy crate stands witness to the past, 50-something owner
Artillana Mancilla pledges to rebuild her eatery and her life.

"All I need is some help from the government," she said.