While China’s communist government claims that the coronavirus has killed 3,300 of its citizens, residents of Wuhan, the city where the deadly illness is believed to have begun, say the number is likely much higher.
According to a report in Radio Free Asia, residents of Wuhan are highly skeptical of the government’s totals based on reports of cremation services have been distributing tens of thousands of urns in recent weeks.
In social media posts that were reviewed by RFA, local residents reported that Wuhan’s seven major funeral homes were distributing at least a combined 3,500 urns each day to grieving families. RFA reports the funeral homes are working to complete the cremations before the grave-tending festival Qing Ming on April 5, indicating a 12-day cremation process that began on March 23. This estimate would pin the total number of cremations at 42,000 bodies during this time.
Others believe the number of deaths in Wuhan alone may be as high as 46,800, based on the capacity of the city’s 84 furnaces with a capacity of 1,560 urns at one cremation per hour.
A Hubei province resident who spoke to RFA on background told the publication that most locals believe at least 40,000 people died in the city from the coronavirus. “Maybe the authorities are gradually releasing the real figures, intentionally or unintentionally, so that people will gradually come to accept the reality,” he said. – READ MORE
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