Story By: James King, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

Hungry dogs are reportedly feasting on the charred corpses of Covid victims that were partially burned before being dumped in an Indian river.

The grisly scenes were displayed in footage shared online reportedly taken at Kedar Ghat on the Bhagirathi River in Uttarkashi in Uttrakhand.

Locals complained that the bodies, partially burned, had washed up on the riverbank following heavy rain over the past few days where they were then being eaten by dogs.

One man was quoted as saying that he turned up to do some painting of the river and was shocked to see the dogs feasting on the bodies.

He said that the District Administration and the Municipal Corporation should act immediately because it was simply ghastly what was happening, with the main priority being a way for the bodies to be properly disposed of following funeral rites.

It is suspected that the bodies were from COVID-19 victims although there might also be people who died from other causes and were also disposed of in the unauthorised manner.

Municipality president Tamesh Semwal said that in response to the complaints they had assigned a person to patrol Kedar Ghat searching for washed-up bodies and to cremate them when found.

The reports of the dogs eating corpses follows on from earlier reports that bodies were washing up on the River Ganges. It is currently unclear if they ended up in the river after routine cremation ceremonies on the riverbank or whether they were thrown in.