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Covid-19: Bodies of 22 patients stuffed into single vehicle in India

Mumbai - The district administration has blamed the hospital staff for not providing additional vans to carry the bodies.

Published: Wed 28 Apr 2021, 1:31 PM

Updated: Wed 28 Apr 2021, 1:32 PM

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A man wearing personal protective equipment carries wood to prepare funeral pyres of those who died from Covid-19, in New Delhi.

A man wearing personal protective equipment carries wood to prepare funeral pyres of those who died from Covid-19, in New Delhi.

A hearse authorised to carry a maximum of two bodies to the crematorium was found stocked with 22 bodies of Covid patients who had succumbed to the disease -- piled one above the other -- in Maharashtra's district of Beed.

The incident, which has led to a major row between the district collectorate and the government hospital, happened when the bodies were being taken from the Swami Ramanand Teerth hospital in Ambajogai.


The district administration has blamed the hospital staff for not providing additional vans to carry the bodies. "Only two bodies at a time should have been carried in a van to the crematorium," Ravindra Jagtap, the collector, told the Indian Express. "On Sunday, 22 bodies were carried from the hospital to the crematorium with the hospital staff flouting the protocol."

Jagtap has ordered a probe into the incident and directed the hospital to ensure such lapses do not recur.

The hospital dean, Dr Shivaji Sukre, said he had informed the administration about the shortage of hearses to carry the dead and had written seeking additional vehicles. He refused to provide other details as a committee is probing the incident.

However, the collector said the dean should have called him up instead of writing a letter seeking additional vehicles. It could also have taken the help of NGOs that operate ambulances.



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