Traditional funeral pyres have been set up in New Delhi after crematorium furnaces struggle to keep up with Covid-19 deaths as India records nearly 10,000 new cases in 24 hours - while global infections hit 6.5 million and deaths reach 387,000. Smoke from the open-air blazes stings the eyes of waiting mourners and workers at Nigambodh Ghat, New Delhi's biggest and oldest crematorium. The committee that runs Nigambodh Ghat says the crematorium has handled more than 500 coronavirus funerals in two months. But only three of six furnaces at Nigambodh Ghat are working, so for the past week, wood pyres, the traditional structures used in Hindu funeral rituals for thousands of years, have been allowed to help clear the backlog. Globally, there are currently over 6.54 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and 387,000 deaths.

Source: Daily Mail June 06, 2020 15:33 UTC