India coronavirus death toll passes 250,000, variant spreads

India's coronavirus death toll passed 250,000 on May 12 as the World Health Organization said the variant fuelling the surge had been found in dozens of countries across the globe.

While vaccinations have helped to ease the pandemic crisis in the United States and Europe, India is in the grip of a devastating wave.

Another 4,205 deaths were on May 12 confirmed over the previous 24 hours, a national record, taking total fatalities to 254,197.

But many experts believe the official numbers of people dying in India, which has one of the world's most poorly funded health care systems, are an underestimate.

"Even three to four times would be an underestimate," Anant Bhan, an independent health policy and bioethics researcher, told AFP.

Across India overwhelmed hospitals have been unable to treat people and there have too many bodies for crematoriums to deal with, and many COVID-19 deaths are not properly recorded as such.

Bodies being burnt in car parks and other public places have highlighted the scale of the crisis.

Bodies have also been seen floating down the holy Ganges river, stoking concerns that the virus is now raging in India's vast rural hinterland where two-thirds of people live and where health care is patchy.

On May 12, the number of bodies of suspected virus victims washing up on the banks of the Ganges in the northern state of Bihar rose to 71, according to officials.

Bihar's water resources minister said a net had been placed in the river to catch any more bodies.

Huge political rallies and religious events that attracted millions of people over recent months are two key factors being blamed for India's crisis.

A variant of the virus called B.1.617, which was first detected in...