Scores of bodies have been found floating down the Ganges river in eastern India as the country battles a ferocious surge in coronavirus infections.

Authorities said yesterday they have not yet determined the cause of death.

Health officials working through the night on Monday retrieved 71 bodies, officials in Bihar state said.

Images on social media of the bodies floating in the river prompted outrage and speculation that they died from Covid-19. Authorities performed post-mortem examinations yesterday but said they could not confirm the cause of death due to the decomposition of the bodies.

More corpses were found floating in the river yesterday, washing up in Ghazipur district in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state.

Police and villagers were at the site, about 50km from Monday’s incident.

“We are trying to find out where did these dead bodies come from? How did they get here?” said Mangla Prasad Singh, a local official.

Surinder, a resident of Ghazipur who uses one name, said villagers did not have enough wood to cremate their dead on land.

“Due to the shortage of wood, the dead are being buried in the water,” he said.

“Bodies from around 12-13 villages have been buried in the water.”

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are experiencing rising Covid-19 cases as infections in India grow faster than anywhere else in the world. Yesterday, the country confirmed nearly 390,000 new cases, including 3,876 more deaths. 

Overall, India has had the second highest number of confirmed cases after the US with nearly 23 million and more than 240,000 deaths. All of the figures are almost certainly a vast undercount, experts say.

Meanwhile it was announced that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not travel to Britain for the Group of Seven (G7) summit next month because of the coronavirus situation in the country, the foreign ministry said yesterday.

“While appreciating the invitation to the Prime Minister by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to attend the G7 Summit as a Special Invitee, given the prevailing Covid situation, it has been decided that the prime minister will not attend the G7 Summit in person,” the ministry said in a statement.

Mr Modi has been criticised for allowing huge gatherings at a religious festival and holding large election rallies during the past two months even as cases surged.

US President Joe Biden is expected to join other leaders at a G7 summit chaired by Britain’s Mr Johnson in Cornwall, in south-western England, between June 11 and 13.