Half-Burned Corpses Ravaged by Stray Dogs... India Faces 'Living Hell' Amid Soaring COVID-19 Cases

Witnesses "Feel Like It's the End of Humanity"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] A video showing stray dogs tearing apart corpses presumed to have died from COVID-19 along the banks of the Ganges River in northern India has spread on social media, causing shock.

On the 2nd, local media reported that a 'horrific incident' occurred in India, which recently experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases, due to improper handling of corpses, and released related footage.

On the 31st of last month, a resident who was painting on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, an upper stream of the Ganges in northern India, witnessed stray dogs tearing apart a partially burned corpse and reported it to the authorities, revealing the tragedy.

The resident said, "After several days of rain caused the water level to rise, it seems that corpses that had been cremated and buried along the riverbank were washed away," adding, "Local authorities must step in and resolve this immediately. Seeing that scene, I felt it was the end of humanity."

Another resident urged, "Several partially burned corpses floated down the river. If they were recently cremated, there is a high probability they were COVID-19 victims," and emphasized, "Proper measures are necessary to prevent further spread of infection."

Authorities who received the report sent staff wearing protective suits to the site to recover the corpses.

Meanwhile, a video showing dogs digging up corpses buried in sand after cremation was also recently released. A video posted on Twitter on the 18th of last month shows several dogs digging through the sand on the riverbank and feeding on the corpses.

The video poster criticized, "In Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, dogs are digging up corpses along the Ganges River and filling their stomachs," adding, "The government has failed to protect lives, but shouldn't it at least preserve minimal dignity?"

As photos and videos of dogs digging up corpses spread on social media recently, authorities claimed that some posts were 'fake news,' stating that they were old photos unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, a photo taken at the Ganges River in April 2012 was falsely presented as a recent image.

Meanwhile, India's daily COVID-19 cases surged from mid-February, peaking at 414,188 on May 7. On that day, 132,788 new cases were added, bringing the total to over 28.3 million, with deaths exceeding 335,000.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.