Eight bodies of COVID-19 victims were cremated on one pyre due to a shortage of space at a makeshift crematorium in Maharashtra's Beed district. The incident took place in Ambajogai town on Tuesday. As the local residents came to know about the incident, there was outrage among people. Moreover, the municipal official did not even inform the families of the victims about their cremation. Currently, Ambajogai has become a hotspot of coronavirus. At 161 people were found COVID-19 positive in the town on Wednesday, according to a report in Hindi daily Amar Ujala. At least seven deaths have been reported from Swami Ramanand Tirth Hospital, while eight deaths were reported from Lokhand Care Centre.
The eight COVID-19 victims were cremated on one pyre by municipal corporations in a hurried manner. All victims are said to be in their 60s including a woman. As the photos of cremation went viral, there was outrage among local residents and the families. "As residents objected to the cremation of COVID-19 victims in the crematoriums which we currently have, we identified a separate space on Mandwa road, nearly two km away from the town. The new makeshift facility has limited space. As a result, we had to set up one large pyre and cremate eight bodies on Tuesday. It was a big pyre and the bodies were kept at a certain distance from each other," Ambajogai Municipal Council's chief officer Ashok Sabale told PTI. Until March-end, there were 1,000 COVID-19 patients in Beed. However, 304 people have been tested COVID-19 positive in just last four days. So far, 28,492 people have been tested COVID-19 positive in Beed district, the constituency of BJP leader Pankaja Munde. At least 672 coronavirus deaths have been reported from the district.