The man began to have difficulty breathing and died on the way. (Representative)
Shahjahanpur:
The body of a 60-year-old man was left unattended for nearly three hours on the side of a road in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, as people suspected he had died from COVID-19, an official said on Wednesday.
The man, identified as Liaqat, was a hairdresser in Mumbai and had recently returned to Tilhar in Shahjahanpur, he said.
Liaqat was to meet his niece on Tuesday, but began to have trouble breathing and died on the way, said the official.
People feared they would be infected with the coronavirus if they approached him, and his body was left unattended for almost three hours, the official said.
“Tuesday evening we learned that a person’s body was lying unattended. A Mumbai ticket was found in his possession. This created doubts that the person is a COVID-19 suspect. After that, senior officials have been informed. ” said Qamruzama, head of the Tilhar primary health center.
He said that the body was buried Tuesday evening, in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines, and that the cemetery was sanitized.
