The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday ordered an inquiry after two relatives of a coronavirus patient fell unconscious and died during his cremation in Jammu.

According to The Tribune, the two people were the nephews of a 65-year-old coronavirus patient who died at Jammu’s Government Medical College on Wednesday. They had gone to perform his last rites in Jammu’s Sidhra area.

The two men were between 35 and 40 years of age, according to the newspaper. They collapsed at the site even before the cremation began. The coronavirus patient’s son also fell unconscious and was shifted to a hospital by other relatives. He is said to be in a stable condition now.

“The additional district magistrate (law and order) shall conduct a detailed inquiry to ascertain the circumstances leading to the death of the two persons,” Jammu District Magistrate Sushma Chauhan said in an order. “He [the additional district magistrate] shall ensure that a special board of doctors is constituted to conduct the autopsy. Covid-19 tests shall also be conducted on both the bodies.”

Chauhan also directed the additional district magistrate to submit a report by Monday, June 22, to the board of doctors formed to look into the deaths.

The cremation took place at 1.30 pm on Thursday, according to The Indian Express. The two individuals, who accompanied the patient’s son to the cremation site, were made to wear personal protective equipment on “a very hot sunny day”, unidentified people told the newspaper.

The family of the deceased alleged that the administration had failed to identify a proper place for the last rites, The Tribune reported. They said that the delay in the funeral caused dehydration since the two men were wearing protective suits in the extreme heat.

Jammu and Kashmir has reported 5,555 coronavirus cases and 71 deaths so far, according to data from the Union health ministry.


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