Delhi has cremated so many COVID-19 victims that authorities are getting requests to cut down trees in city parks to fuel the funeral pyres

Kelly McLaughlin
Updated ·1 min read
A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 is consoled by another during cremation in Jammu, India, Sunday, April 25, 2021. Delhi has been cremating so many bodies of coronavirus victims that authorities are getting requests to start cutting down trees in city parks, as a second record surge has brought India's tattered healthcare system to its knees.

  • Officials in Delhi, India, are getting requests to cut down trees in city parks for funeral pyres.

  • India is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases.

  • Wood is needed to help fuel cremations as COVID-19 cases and deaths skyrocket.

  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Officials in Delhi, India, are getting requests to cut down trees in city parks to help fuel cremations as COVID-19 cases and deaths skyrocket across the country.

Wooden pyres are used in India to cremate a body as part of a funeral rite.

But as more people continue to die from COVID-19 in India, more wood is needed to fuel the pyres, according to the Associated Press.

India's surging case count of COVID-19 infections is growing at the fastest pace in the world, and on Sunday the country recorded more than 350,000 new COVID-19 cases, breaking a world record for daily COVID-19 cases for the fifth day in a row.

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