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Health workers, attend to patients with Ebola at a clinic in Monrovia, Liberia. Abbas Dulleh/AP/Press Association Images

Killer virus Ebola threatening Liberia's existence

It comes after an assessment from the World Health Organization.

WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGES 

EBOLA IS THREATENING the very existence of Liberia as the killer virus spreads like “wild fire”.

That’s the warning coming from its defence minister after a grim World Health Organization assessment that the worst is yet to come.

After predicting an “exponential increase” in infections across West Africa, the WHO warned that Liberia could initially only hope to slow the contagion, not stop it

Liberia has accounted for half of all fatalities. Defense Minister, Brownie Samukai, told a meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday that, “Liberia is facing a serious threat to its national existence.”

The disease is now spreading like wild fire, devouring everything in its path.

The WHO upped the Ebola death toll on Tuesday to 2,296 out of 4,293 cases in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria as of September 6. Nearly half of all infections had occurred in the past 21 days, it said.

Liberia Ebola A health worker, right, sprays a man with disinfectant chemicals as he is suspected of dying due to the Ebola virus in Liberia. A health worker, right, sprays a man with disinfectant chemicals as he is suspected of dying due to the Ebola virus as people, rear, look on in Monrovia, Liberia A health worker, right, sprays a man with disinfectant chemicals as he is suspected of dying due to the Ebola virus as people, rear, look on in Monrovia, Liberia

The agency also evacuated its second infected medical expert, a doctor who had been working at an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone.

Emory University Hospital in the United States admitted yesterday that an American had contracted the disease in west Africa, but declined to confirm whether the patient was the WHO employee.

The hospital has successfully treated two other infected US nationals.

Ebola, transmitted through bodily fluids, leads to haemorrhagic fever and – in over half of cases – death. There is no specific treatment regime and no licensed vaccine.

Liberia Ebola Ebola prevention gloves and rubber boots for health workers set outside for the sun to dry them. Abbas Dulleh / AP/Press Association Images Abbas Dulleh / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images

‘Need to be pragmatic’ 

The latest WHO figures underscore Ebola’s asymmetric spread, as it rips through densely populated communities with decrepit health facilities and poor public awareness campaigns.

Speaking on Tuesday, WHO’s epidemiology chief, Sylvie Briand, said the goal in Senegal and Nigeria was now “to stop transmission completely”. Senegal has announced only one infection, while Nigeria has recorded 19 infections and eight deaths.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is battling a separate outbreak which has killed 32 in a remote northwestern region.

“But in other locations, like Monrovia, where we have really wide community transmission, we are aiming at two-step strategies,” Briand said in Geneva, “first, to reduce the transmission as much as possible and, when it becomes controllable, we will also try to stop it completely.

But at this point in time we need to be pragmatic and try to reduce it in the initial steps.

A day earlier the WHO had warned that aid organisations trying to help Liberia to respond would “need to prepare to scale up their current efforts by three- to four-fold”.

Before the current outbreak, it noted, Liberia only had one doctor for every 100,000 patients in a population of 4.4 million.

In Montserrado county, which contains Monrovia, there are no spare beds at the few Ebola treatment sites operating, the WHO said.

It described how infected people were being driven to centres only to be turned away, return home and create “flare-ups” of deadly fever in their villages.

It said 1,000 beds are needed – far more than the 240 currently operational and 260 planned.

Liberia Ebola A health worker is sprayed with disinfectant after he worked with patients that contracted the Ebola virus, at a clinic in Monrovia, Liberia Abbas Dulleh / AP/Press Association Images Abbas Dulleh / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images

Border closure, controls 

Guinea’s President Alpha Conde described Ebola as a “war” on his nation – with 555 dead so far.

He slammed neighbouring states including Ivory Coast and Senegal for shutting their borders, and airlines for suspending flights to affected countries. He said:

They forget that when you close borders, people just go through the bush. It’s better to have official passages of transit.

African Union commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma also called for travel bans to be lifted “to open up economic activities”.

In Gambia, customs officials said on Tuesday they had closed the borders to Guineans, Liberians, Nigerians and Sierra Leoneans — though not to neighbouring Senegal.

Ebrima Kurumah, a health officer posted at the border with Senegal, told AFP:

We are also advising Gambians intending to travel to these countries to cancel their trips, but any Gambian who fails to heed our advice, we will not allow you in the country if you return.

There were restrictions further afield, too. China, one of the region’s main investors, announced on Tuesday it was reinforcing checks on people, goods and vehicles – and even mail – arriving from affected countries.

Meanwhile, Italy announced its first possible case of Ebola – a woman recently returned from Nigeria.

© AFP, 2014

Read: Four day ‘lockdown’ planned to halt spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone>

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    Mute Leadóg
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:12 AM

    FFS. My faith in humanity lessens by the day.

    939
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    Mute Sean Leonard
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:14 AM

    Unbelievable!!!

    493
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    Mute James Darby
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 6:46 PM

    @Sean Leonard: Unbelievable that they gave it back.

    39
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    Mute Artur Gurta
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:27 AM

    Lowest of the low

    514
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    Mute Techguy.ie
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:21 AM

    S€umbags

    527
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    Mute Kárl
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 10:38 AM

    @Techguy.ie: Sure doesn’t the media tell ya that these people are the salt of the earth. They should be growing into dust.

    84
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    Mute Seriously stunned
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 9:09 AM

    If they Catch them Do like they do in North Korea.make the whole family and relatives pay for it.take the dole off all of them.

    279
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    Mute Tom Harpur
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 10:03 AM

    @Seriously stunned: better again if there caught wire them up to a defibrillator say 100 Jules or above or better again just wire them up to the mains and turn on the switch either way that person is a waste of spunk.

    93
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    Mute Dan Skelton
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:38 PM

    @Seriously stunned: Favour the whole “punish the group for the act of the individual” eh? I like that

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    Mute Jordan Mac Fíonnbhar
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    Jul 24th 2018, 5:26 PM

    @Seriously stunned: that’s ridiculous

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    Mute Eric Walsh
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:37 AM

    Good man or woman! I bet you’ll wake up this morning and feel proud of yourself!!

    248
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    Mute Patrick O Connell
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 3:13 PM

    @Eric Walsh: well they won’t be waking up to go to work today or any other day

    116
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    Mute Michael Anthony Thompson
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 9:16 AM

    Same area that Dublin Bus has to detour away from every year during Halloween due to rocks and fireworks being pelted at the bus. Shameful.

    163
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    Mute Y
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 6:16 PM

    @Michael Anthony Thompson: same shower that cry there’s no bus service during Halloween

    46
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    Mute john rhymes
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 8:38 PM

    @Michael Anthony Thompson: That’s the first Ive ever heard of no buses going through Cabra at halloween.. Would you have a link to that?

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    Mute John Jones
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    Jul 24th 2018, 2:58 AM
    7
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    Mute tottkingham
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:53 AM

    Could be on Done Deal.

    92
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    Mute Gerry Caden
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 11:03 AM

    ….and when/ if the Gardai , having spent hundreds of man hours and bring suspects to Court, the untouchable judge will give the suspects a suspended sentence. These sorts of nuisance crimes should have mandatory custodial sentences in centres that don’t make it attractive for criminals to revisit. How about Victims Rights for a change.

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    Mute Alan Barry
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 8:10 AM

    Hope they catch them.

    A cardiac arrest ≠ a heart attack – these terms are not equivalent. Heart attack is a blockage of the coronary arteries / cardiac arrest is sudden cessation of the activity of the heart. Article confuses the terms.

    65
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    Mute Sandra Creevey
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 8:54 AM

    @Alan Barry: cardiac arrest can be caused by a heart attack though. ‘This can occur in a person with or without heart disease and may occur after a heart attack’. So maybe he did have a heart attack. Not the point of the article though.

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    Mute Shane Freeney
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 9:26 AM

    @Alan Barry: ffs get a life

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    Mute steovani
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 10:03 AM

    @Alan Barry: gotta love the volunteer emt know it alls!

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    Mute Alan Barry
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 10:22 AM

    @steovani: Indeed, without the volunteer EMT know-it-alls, who would know anything!

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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 1:38 PM

    @Alan Barry: Thanks Alan. Nice to see Grey’s Anatomy wasn’t totally wasted on you.

    33
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    Mute John Mc Donagh
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 4:38 PM

    @Sandra Creevey: I learned a long time ago that Ireland is overflowing with Cardiologists!

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    Mute Eóin Ó Raghallaigh
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 9:20 AM

    Kip

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    Mute Eugene Tyson
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:24 AM

    News stories this morning are messed up. How about some cheery news. WTF is going on???

    76
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    Mute Malachy Guilfoyle
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 10:46 AM

    Serial numbers will have been recorded in a log so if they turn up they can be traced. The Holmatro pump is very Fire Service specific, will stand out a mile if it’s offered for sale

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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 11:08 PM

    @Malachy Guilfoyle: will be crudely painted and the seller will say he got it in a garage sale in the UK

    Won’t have a bulls how to operate it no doubt

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    Mute gary mullen
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 11:38 AM

    If those responsible are caught they should be given at least 3 years, there is no excuse for this at all.

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    Mute Gerard Heery
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 9:17 AM

    Need money for the craic cocaine, it has to come from somewhere

    45
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    Mute Al
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 8:31 AM

    A cardiac arrest is not a heart attack I suggest The Journal team change the article

    Whatever about the deWalt saw the Holmatro pump is pretty much useless to them. Its used to power hydraulic tools used to extricate people from cars

    27
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    Mute Sandra Creevey
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 8:49 AM

    @Al: don’t think they said the equipment was needed for this patient, just that it was stolen from the fire engine while they were with the man.

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    Mute Shane Freeney
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 9:25 AM

    @Al: Are you alright

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    Mute Al
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 12:48 PM

    @Sandra Creevey: I meant the equipment is of no use to those who robbed it

    Doubt many of them have holmatro brand cutters spreaders or rams lying around the shed

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    Mute Will Gore
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 1:29 PM

    @Al: I thought it was a Honda 2k so I reckon the dopes assumed the same #wherearethesockets?

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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 1:43 PM

    @Shane Freeney: He’s grand. He’s got Google hat on. Two commenters going on about this, Alan and Al. Odd.

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    Mute Declan _
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 3:15 PM

    @Tommy Roche: both volunteer EMT aswell .

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    Mute Al
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 6:51 PM

    @Declan _: whats that got to do with anything?

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    Mute Davey Lawlor
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:24 PM

    @Tommy Roche: Or he could be a firefighter paramedic and giving people the facts that this news outlet got so very incorrect. Better luck with the next panel mate.

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    Mute Justin Hanley
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 11:25 AM

    What a low life that would rob items from a fire engine, s€um of the earth ,Hope there parents are proud of them

    37
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    Mute J. Reid
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 1:53 PM

    Our ridiculous tolerance for drug taking, and heroin junkies roaming the streets of Dublin, is what is responsible for this shocking rise in petty thievery. These people think that they can get money for anything, so they steal anything, no matter how many other people may be harmed as a result (such as the potential victims of this fire in Cabra, who may not have been helped efficiently because the firemen had to work without certain equipment).

    32
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    Mute J. Reid
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 1:56 PM

    @J. Reid: *incident in Cabra (or any incidents which might have emerged later in the day)

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    Mute Tom Purcell
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 4:01 PM

    “…seller ‘persuaded’ to hand it over”…I notice the quotation marks in the headline…I hope the fine up-standing citizen who had the saw did not need a DFB ambulance as a result of the “persuasion”.

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    Mute Mick Collins
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 10:39 AM

    L°life s¢umbags

    23
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    Mute Niall Binéad
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 12:18 PM

    Little/big toerags! Whatever lowlife buys these from these gimps should also get harsh sentences like the bigtime crims that stole them! When they’re both caught and found not to have had a hard upbringing!

    18
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    Mute Justin Hanley
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 11:24 AM

    What a low life that would rob items from a fire engine, s€um of the earth ,Hope there parents are proud of them !!!!!!!

    20
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    Mute Stephen Kearon
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 4:13 PM

    Should be long mandatory sentences for those low lives who steal from emergency services

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    Mute Aidan Dorney
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:14 PM

    In fairness hardly the crime of the century seen the error of their ways handed the important equipment back somehow to the hard working members of DFB. Case closed move along. Lets be thankful it was not required at that moment to cut anybody out of a car for instance.

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    Mute Elizabeth Thewiz
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 11:49 AM

    Sickening hopefully they won’t need the services of the FB and if they do these parasites would be the first to complain that the FB arrived ill equipped. Somebody had to see them with all the rubberneckers around !

    12
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    Mute Aidan Dorney
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 7:25 PM

    In fact apology case still open pump still outstanding hopefully it will be retrieved also.

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    Mute Niall Cummins
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    Jul 24th 2018, 1:15 AM

    Holmatro pump handed into Fire Station this evening by a member of the public.

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    Mute Liam Dempsey
    Favourite Liam Dempsey
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    Jul 23rd 2018, 10:03 PM

    Steeling cars was deemed by the cops as petty crime.

    1
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