As if the original story weren’t painful enough, it is now surfacing that the blaze that destroyed the Sony/PIAS DADC distribution center during last month’s London riots may not have been a merely random result of violence in the city, but rather an organized attack.
According to The Telegraph, emerging evidence shows that a professional gang may have specifically targeted the warehouse and used looting and burning as a way to cover up their work. Sources say that thieves employed special cutting equipment and spent two hours taking apart a high-security fence before breaking into the building — which contained the complete inventory of PIAS, the largest distributor of independent labels in the UK. An already overwhelmed security force could not fend off the robbers, and witnesses have reported seeing crowds of young people raiding the building and carrying off stock. The fire reportedly began after the looters had left the scene, and inventory previously assumed burned may have been stolen and could reach the black market.
Several arrests have been made, but Metropolitan Police are not commenting on the investigation.
Check out our previous news story for ways to help out the nearly 200 labels (which include Matador, Ninja Tune, and Thrill Jockey) affected by the fire.
