Dozens Of Bodies Suspected Of Being Infected With COVID-19 Float In Ganges River, India Holds Investigation

Illustration of Indian activity on the Ganges River. (WIkimedia Commons/Matt Stabile)

JAKARTA - Dozens of decomposing bodies have been found floating in two rivers in northern India, raising concerns some victims of the country's COVID-19 crisis are not properly buried or burned, due to the large number of people who die every day.

Video footage of the Ganges river in Bihar and Yamuna states in Uttar Pradesh shows dozens of swollen and decomposing bodies strewn in the water, raising concerns about a new outbreak of the disease away from urban areas where most deaths have been reported so far.

According to The National News on Tuesday, May 11, officials acknowledged there were at least 40 bodies at both locations, although some media reports said the number of bodies was more than 150.

Aman Samir, a local judge in Bihar's Buxar district, said authorities there were notified of the bodies around noon on Monday.

"We investigated and found 35 floating bodies but it appears that these came from upstream and are trapped here. We will do a post mortem examination and dispose of it", said Samir.

Footage broadcast by a news channel showed at least 10 bodies floating in the Yamuna River in Hamirpur district in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh. However, local police claim the number is much lower and they are thrown into the river by local customs and are most likely not victims of COVID-19.

"Five bodies were found floating in the river. Locals in the area buried the bodies because they believed cremating the bodies would lead to deaths in the family", explained Narendra Kumar Singh, a top local police official.

"The body may not be a victim of COVID-19, because nothing is packed (in plastic cover)", Singh continued.

On Sunday, news channels broadcast a video of hospital workers dumping the bodies of COVID-19 victims into a river in Bihar's Katihar district. While it is not yet certain whether the bodies in the latest video are victims of COVID-19, their numbers show a pandemic that has killed thousands of people every day since the second wave of infections hit India last March.

Meanwhile, according to Reuters Tuesday, May 11, Health Ministry data showed daily cases of coronavirus infection in India increased by 329,942, while deaths from the disease increased by 3,876. The total number of cases of coronavirus infection in India now stands at 22.99 million, while the total number of deaths rose to 249,992.