Dozens of bodies are piled on the floor of a Siberian morgue as Russia faces record numbers of coronavirus deaths
- Footage showed more than 30 bodies piled up in corridors of Siberian morgue
- Comes after Russia recorded 317 deaths Wednesday – the highest ever figure
- In the city of Rostov-on-Don 13 died after oxygen supplies ran out for two hours
Horrifying footage from a Russian morgue has shown dozens of bodies piled on the floor as coronavirus cases in the country soar.
It is not clear if the dead lining the corridors beneath the Siberian hospital were covid patients but Russia’s outbreak is gathering pace. It recorded 317 deaths today – the highest ever.
In the western city of Rostov-on-Don, 13 patients died after oxygen supplies to ventilators ran out for two hours, local media report.
The horrific video from City Hospital No. 12 in Barnaul, Siberia, shows more than 30 bodies were stowed in black bags in corridors.
The horrific pictures from City Hospital No. 12 in Barnaul show scenes where more than 30 bodies were stashed in black bags in corridors
Bodies in plastic bags are laid out on trolleys in the morgue of the Siberia hospital
The video was published by social media group Incident Barnaul.
The author of the video showed the bags piled up both on gurneys and on the floor in what appeared to be the hospital basement.
The Ministry of Health of the Altai region confirmed the authenticity of the video.
Local media said there was ‘lack of space’ in morgues as Siberia appears to be badly hit by the second wave of coronavirus spreading through Russia.
It was unclear how long the bodies were lying in the hospital.
There were delays because there was a backlog in carrying out autopsies due to the spiralling numbers of fatalities.
‘We are doing everything we can to reduce the delays in autopsies.
‘Currently, we are working in two shifts, seven days a week,’ said regional chief pathologist Vladimir Klimachev.
‘We are doing our best to speed up this process.’
City Hospital No. 12 in Barnaul, Siberia, where bodies are piling up in the morgue
Separately in Rostov-on-Don, health watchdog Roszdravnadzor has begun a formal probe into claims that 13 Covid-19 patients died at the city’s hospital No 20 due to the lack of oxygen over a two hour period.
The patients ‘suffocated during a long pause in the supply of medical oxygen’, said a high-ranking health source.
Patients ‘who could still hold out’ died because of the shortage, it was reported.
Five people died in intensive care, and others in general wards.
‘On 12 there was no oxygen for two hours [in a row] on all floors,’ said the source.
A former head physician Valery Bushtyrev criticised the way oxygen was supplied in city hospitals, calling for a system where ‘there is always a supply.’
Rostov Minister of Health Tatiana Bykovskaya has refused to comment on the oxygen scandal, saying she was on holiday
A former head physician Valery Bushtyrev (pictured) criticised the way oxygen was supplied in city hospitals, calling for a system where ‘there is always a supply.’
Regional health minister Tatiana Bykovskaya refused to comment on the scandal, saying she was on holiday.
Meanwhile in a Chita hospital oxygen supplies were interrupted when thieves stole a 40ft length of tubing supplying the air to patients.
Hospital sources say patients were transferred to another supply and no-one died.
Russia today recorded its record number of daily deaths in the pandemic and a total of 15,700 new infections.
Several experts have claimed the official figures underscore the real toll but government sources deny this.