Covid patient's body falls off ambulance

BHOPAL: Families of people who lost their battle to coronavirus at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh are alleging that bodies of their loved ones are not being handed over to them. A morbid video from the Vidisha District Hospital, around 57 kilometres from state capital Bhopal, describes the horrors they are facing.

In the video, an ambulance carrying a Covid victim's body is seen leaving the hospital. Just as it passes the gates and turns, the body is flung out of it onto the road. The rickety vehicle's driver reportedly panicked and is stopping ambulance, whose rear wind shields are broken. A couple of men rush in by then even as a PPE-clad person is seen looking from inside the ambulance.

It has been alleged that the hospital authorities took the body away without informing the family of the dead person.

Madhya Pradesh reported 12,384 COVID-19 cases and 75 deaths in the past 24 hours. The state's total caseload is now over 4.59 lakh with many of its districts reportedly facing an acute shortage of oxygen, resulting in many deaths.

It requires 400 tonnes of oxygen daily and estimates show that the number of active cases are expected go up to a lakh by this month-end. The state would then need 500 tonnes daily.

With India facing its worst public health crisis with the dramatic surge in coronavirus cases and related deaths every day, cremation and burial grounds in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow are swamped.