Days after bodies of suspected COVID-19 patients washed up on the shores of the river Ganga in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, more have been found buried in the sand in Unnao.
A team of the local police is in the process of carrying out an inquiry and searches are being conducted for more bodies.
According to District Magistrate Ravinder Kumar, the bodies were found buried in an area far from the river.
"Our team has found buried bodies in an area far from the river. Search being conducted for more bodies in other areas. I have asked a team to carry out an inquiry. Action will be taken accordingly," the DM said.
Over the last two days, horrific scenes of dead bodies floating in the Ganga river in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur and Bihar's Buxar caused panic among locals who feared that the bodies were of deceased COVID patients.
According to Bihar Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha, 71 bodies were taken out from the river in Buxar district and their last rites performed and a net has been placed in the Ganga in Ranighat, bordering UP and Bihar, to stop any similar incident from happening again.
Local residents have complained of stench coming from the bloated, decomposed corpses and accused the authorities of ineptitude.
These incidents have sparked fears about the scale of the Covid crisis in the country. Authorities believe the relatives of those who succumbed to the virus, may not have been able to find space for the last rites.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor