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Hundreds of Bodies Found Buried along Indian Riverbanks

Associated Press

   PRAYAGRAJ - Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to
   investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or
   washing up on the Ganges River banks, prompting speculation on social
   media that they were the remains of COVID-19 victims.

   In jeeps and boats, the police used portable loudspeakers with
   microphones asking people not to dispose of the bodies in rivers. "We
   are here to help you perform the last rites," police said.

   On Friday, rains exposed the cloth coverings of bodies buried in
   shallow sand graves on the riverbank in Prayagraj, a city in Uttar
   Pradesh state.

   Navneet Sehgal, a state government spokesman, on Sunday denied local
   media reports that more than 1,000 corpses of COVID-19 victims had been
   recovered from rivers in the past two weeks. "I bet these bodies have
   nothing to do with COVID-19," he said.

   He said some villagers did not cremate their dead, as is customary, due
   to a Hindu tradition during some periods of religious significance and
   disposed of them in rivers or digging graves on riverbanks.

   K.P. Singh, a senior police officer, said authorities had earmarked a
   cremation ground for those who died of COVID-19 on the Prayagraj
   riverbank and the police were no longer allowing any burials on the
   riverfront.

   Sehgal state authorities have found "a small number" of bodies on the
   riverbanks, he said, but didn't give a figure.

   Ramesh Kumar Singh, a member of Bondhu Mahal Samiti, a philanthropic
   organization that helps cremate bodies, said the number of deaths is
   very high in rural areas, and poor people have been disposing of the
   bodies in the river because of the exorbitant cost of performing the
   last rites and a shortage of wood. The cremation cost has tripled up to
   15,000 rupees ($210).
   Policemen stand next to the bodies buried in shallow graves on the
   banks of Ganges river in Prayagraj, India, May 15, 2021. (AP)

   Health authorities last week retrieved 71 bodies that washed up on the
   Ganges River bank in neighboring Bihar state.

   Authorities performed post mortems but said they could not confirm the
   cause of death due to decomposition.

   A dozen corpses were also found last week buried in sand at two
   locations on the riverbank in Unnao district, 40 kilometers (25 miles)
   southwest of Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital. District
   Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said an investigation is underway to identify
   the cause of death.

   India's two big states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with nearly 358
   million people in total, are among the worst hit in the surge sweeping
   through the country with devastating death tolls. Hapless villagers
   have been rushing the sick to nearby towns and cities for treatment,
   many of them dying on the way, victims of India's crumbling health
   care.

   After hitting record highs for weeks, the number of new cases was
   stabilizing, said Dr. V.K. Paul, a government health expert.

   The Health Ministry on Sunday reported 311,170 confirmed cases in the
   past 24 hours, down from 326,098 on Saturday.

   It also reported 4,077 additional deaths, taking the total fatalities
   to 270,284. Both figures are almost certainly a vast undercount,
   experts say.