NEW DELHI: Dozens of bodies believed to be Covid-19 victims have washed up on the banks of the Ganges river in northern India, officials said Monday.
The pandemic has been spreading fast into India’s vast rural hinterland, overwhelming local health facilities as well as crematoriums and cemeteries.
Local official Ashok Kumar said that about 40 corpses washed up in Buxar district near the border between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, two of India’s poorest states.
“We have directed concerned officials to dispose of all bodies, to either bury or cremate them,” Kumar told AFP.
Some media reports said the number of corpses could be as high as 100.
The reports quoted other officials as saying some of them were bloated and partially burned and could have been in the river for several days.
Locals told AFP that they believed the bodies had been dumped in the river because cremation sites were overwhelmed or because relatives could not afford wood for funeral pyres.
“It is really shocking for us,” local resident Kameshwar Pandey told AFP.
According to official statistics, around 4,000 people are currently dying from coronavirus every day in India and the death toll is almost 250,000.
But citing anecdotal evidence from crematoriums, many experts believe that the true daily number could be several times higher.
This is particularly the case now that the current surge has spread beyond major cities into rural areas where hospitals are few and far between and record-keeping poor.
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Dozens of suspected Covid-19 corpses found in Indian river
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Dozens of suspected Covid-19 corpses found in Indian river
- The reports quoted other officials as saying some of them were bloated and partially burned and could have been in the river for several days
Russia has taken ‘over 1,000’ Kenyans to Ukraine: intelligence report
- Russia has enticed men from African countries with promises of lucrative jobs, only to force them into fighting
NAIROBI: More than 1,000 Kenyans have gone to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine, most of them tricked into signing military contracts, according to an intelligence report presented to Kenya’s parliament.
Multiple media investigations, including one published earlier this month by AFP, have exposed how Russia has enticed men from African countries with promises of lucrative jobs, only to force them into fighting on the front line in Ukraine.
A joint investigation by Kenya’s National Intelligence Service and Directorate of Criminal Investigations, presented in parliament on Tuesday, put the number of recruits from the country at “over 1,000” — far higher than the figure of “around 200” given by authorities in December.
“The Kenyans leave the country on tourist visas to join the Russian army through Istanbul, Turkiye, as well as Abu Dhabi, UAE,” Kimani Ichung’wah, parliament majority leader, told lawmakers.
But he said increased border enforcement at Nairobi’s airport meant recruits were also now traveling to other African countries to avoid detection.
Ichung’wah said unlicensed recruitment agencies in Kenya were “colluding with rogue airport staff.”
He said at least 39 Kenyans were currently hospitalized, 28 missing-in-action and 89 on the front line.
Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi is due to visit Moscow next month to discuss the issue, with the government condemning the use of its people “as cannon fodder.”
Uganda and South Africa are among the other African countries that have been targeted for recruitment as Russia faces heavy casualties in Ukraine.
Multiple media investigations, including one published earlier this month by AFP, have exposed how Russia has enticed men from African countries with promises of lucrative jobs, only to force them into fighting on the front line in Ukraine.
A joint investigation by Kenya’s National Intelligence Service and Directorate of Criminal Investigations, presented in parliament on Tuesday, put the number of recruits from the country at “over 1,000” — far higher than the figure of “around 200” given by authorities in December.
“The Kenyans leave the country on tourist visas to join the Russian army through Istanbul, Turkiye, as well as Abu Dhabi, UAE,” Kimani Ichung’wah, parliament majority leader, told lawmakers.
But he said increased border enforcement at Nairobi’s airport meant recruits were also now traveling to other African countries to avoid detection.
Ichung’wah said unlicensed recruitment agencies in Kenya were “colluding with rogue airport staff.”
He said at least 39 Kenyans were currently hospitalized, 28 missing-in-action and 89 on the front line.
Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi is due to visit Moscow next month to discuss the issue, with the government condemning the use of its people “as cannon fodder.”
Uganda and South Africa are among the other African countries that have been targeted for recruitment as Russia faces heavy casualties in Ukraine.
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