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The virus has caused the usual number of corpses arriving at the cemetery to double, while graves are dug by the thousands, yet cemetery workers are struggling to find space for the dead, according to an Associated Press report.
The “Behesht Zahra” cemetery, considered one of the largest cemeteries in the world, spans five square kilometers in the capital, Tehran, and about 1.6 million people are buried there.
Cemetery director Saeed Khal told the agency that he had never witnessed anything like this before, not even during the Iran-Iraq war or the biggest natural disaster in Iran, adding: “We have suffered a crisis over the course of 260 days. , and we don’t know how long we will continue to face this crisis. “
On average, the cemetery during this period receives around 350 bodies per day, according to Khal.
The laments of the people and relatives of the dead echoed throughout the area of the newly excavated graves, which await the next funeral.
Iran is the country most affected by the epidemic in the Middle East region, and the number of injured is estimated at at least 715,000, while the death toll exceeds 39,000.
Authorities imposed a series of temporary measures in recent weeks to limit the spread of the disease, the most recent of which was the closure of non-essential institutions. This includes Tehran, provincial centers, and cities with high populations.
The recent surge in injuries and deaths has prompted calls for a full two-week shutdown, especially in the capital, which is home to more than eight million people.
