Stray dogs seen eating bodies of dead Covid patients as cemeteries struggle to cope

Stray dogs eating charred human bodies that washed up on the banks of an Indian river as the country struggles with the rising death toll.

Residents of Uttarkashi in Uttrakhand, India claim to have seen stray dogs consuming human flesh, some of it half-burnt after it has drifted onto banks of the river Bhagirathi as crematoriums struggle with the strain of the pandemic.

One local resident said he was doing some painting by the river on Monday, May 31, when he noticed the dogs “gnawing and feeding on” the dead, MailOnline reports.

The man described the site to NDTV as the “death of humanity” in a plea to the local government to address the pile-up of corpses.

Locals are also worried that coronavirus may spread further through the water supply or through the dogs that are consuming victims of the disease.

There was a similar instance of suspected coronavirus victims washing up on the banks of the River Ganges in the northern states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh last month.

Footage also emerged yesterday which showed relatives wearing full PPE dumping a body into the Rapti River in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh.

Authorities believe that families of the dead may have been unable to find space to cremate their loved ones or not been able to afford the last rites.

India has been fighting a serious third wave of coronavirus for the past month, and although the number of cases is starting to decline, the country faces an increasing daily death toll for weeks to come.

The country’s infection rate peaked in early May but has started to decline.

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Daily cases were at more than 127,000 on Monday the daily death toll, averaging 3,500 over the last week, is believed to be a huge underestimate.

Ramesh Semwal, the municipality president in Uttarkashi, yesterday said he had ordered the local authorities to take care of the bodies in the river.

He said: “During the last few days, the number of deaths has been increased in our area. I also came to know that bodies are not burnt properly so I have directed the administration to arrange at Kedar Ghat for the cremation of half-burnt bodies.”