Gruesome footage has appeared showing stray dogs gnawing on human remains, purportedly that of COVID-19 victims, on a river bank in Uttarakhand, India.

Telegraph India reported that the bodies had presumably been dumped upstream into the river, a tributary of the Ganga, and had gotten stuck in the sandbars after heavy rainfall over the last few days.

Attracted by the smell, stray dogs pulled the bodies out of the water, before eating them.

The chairman of the local municipal council, said that some of the bodies were half-burnt, and implied that they were cremated at the spot, instead of having been washed down from upstream.

Locals had reportedly complained to the authorities about the episode, but they claim no action has been taken so far.

According to reports, there have been at least 70 bodies, believed to be that of COVID-19 patients, found floating on river Ganga.

Many families are also reportedly burying their dead in the sand on riverbanks as cremation space and firewood run out, and funeral costs spiral.

This has caused concerns among the locals that the deadly virus may further spread through the water, or through the dogs which consume the bodies of those who died from COVID-19.

Uttar Pradesh is one of the states badly hit by the second wave of the coronavirus infections in India.

With over 28.4 million confirmed cases and more than 338,000 deaths, India is the second worst-hit country by the pandemic, after the United States.


Source: Telegraph India
Photo source: newsweek.com via AFP/Getty Images