Video shows bodies of COVID-19 victims kept near patients

A video showing bodies of COVID-19 victims lying unattended near patients undergoing treatment for the virus infection at the civic-run Sion hospital here went viral on Thursday.

Announcing a probe, Dr Pramod Ingle, dean of the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Sion area, said the reluctance of relatives to collect bodies led to this situation.

A statement issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the evening quoted him as saying that a probe will be conducted into the genuineness of the video.

Earlier, the Dean said relatives of coronavirus victims are often reluctant to take possession of bodies, and "that is the reason why the bodies were kept there unattended.

"We have now removed the bodies and are probing the matter," he said.

Asked why the bodies were not shifted to the mortuary, Dr Ingle said, "There are 15 slots in the hospital's mortuary of which 11 were already filled."