Protests in Ecuador: Dead bodies of Coronavirus victims left to rot in homes and streets

In the following RAIR exclusively translated videos, residents of the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador are setting fires in the streets to protest the treatment of the bodies of victims who died of coronavirus not being collected or given proper Christian burials.

The dead are left piled in the streets, hospitals and refrigerated trucks. In some instances, grieving families are being forced to live with their dead one’s corpses for days.

Unfortunately, many funeral companies do not want to have contact with the remains for fear of becoming contaminated.

Video 1:

VIdeo #2

Video #1 Translation:

Good evening —Yes, good evening. The same or similar images we see in Guayaquil, where the people are in the streets in spite of the emergency they are living in.

They continue to register images of cadavers of coronavirus victims piled up in refrigerated trucks, bodies however not identified; there are more dead bodies in hospitals and without refrigeration.

This here smells of heavy loss of life. Pure death. Unclaimed bodies. Lost bodies.

Without a Christian burial. Without being taken care of. Like this. This is outrageous, gentlemen. Outrageous. —The desperation has caused some of the residents of Guayaquil to try to call the attention of the authorities in this manner.

They want the bodies to be picked up that have been in homes for days. They are burning tires like this to get the attention of the authorities, who reiterate that the protective measures against Covid-19, especially speaking of the massive isolation and the suspension of the workday, have become complicated. The complicated issue, the issue of collecting the cadavers. The reality is that in Guayaquil reports from families continue in this same direction. Today the images are repeated.

For days, people have been living with the cadavers of their loved ones. They demand proper attention and a proper burial.

It has to be remembered that the funeral companies don’t want to carry the remains for fear of possible contagion. This is the scenario, the reality in this city in Ecuador.

Video #2 Translation:

You already know watching this video. They are near my neighborhood, burning in the streets because there is a dead person who is; It’s already been three days and they (medical authorities )still haven’t come to pick him up.

[Unintelligible] in Guasmo South (neighborhood) in Guayas y Quil Cooperative 2.

Right now, it is… Friday, April 3. It is 1:51 in the afternoon. The people can’t stand it anymore, and have called the authorities to come take away the body, although they haven’t done so.