Non-stop cremations cast doubt on India's counting of COVID dead

FILE PHOTO: A frontline worker in personal protective equipment (PPE) sprays a flammable liquid on a burning funeral pyre of a man who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a crematorium on the outskirts of Mumbai India, April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Gas and firewood furnaces at a crematorium in the western Indian state of Gujurat have been running so long without a break during the COVID-19 pandemic that metal parts have begun to melt.

"We are working around the clock at 100% capacity to cremate bodies on time," Kamlesh Sailor, the president of the trust that runs the crematorium in the diamond-polishing city of Surat, told Reuters.