New Delhi crematoriums overrun amid COVID surge

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EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES

In a country ravaged by COVID-19, a grim scene captures the depths of the crisis: Rows, upon rows of bodies burning on makeshift platforms as cremation grounds have become overrun.

In New Delhi, India, it's come to this.

So overwhelmed by the mounting death toll, ambulances carrying bodies of victims wait in line for hours.

Ambulance driver: "Earlier very few bodies (of COVID-19 victims) used to come here for cremation, but now, we have to wait for two hours. We have been sitting here for over three hours."

Across New Dehli more and more people are turning to makeshift facilities, undertaking mass burials and cremations. Mourners have turned to parking lots and parks as families grow desperate to bury their loved ones.

Amid the deepening crisis, U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday outlined how the U.S. is helping India and said he intends to share vaccines with the country and others.

Biden: "I think we'll be in a position to share vaccines, as well as know-how, with countries that are in real need. That's the hope and expectation and I might add when we were in a bind, India helped us."

As of Tuesday, India’s coronavirus death toll is nearing the bleak milestone of 200,000 with another 2,771 fatalities reported over the past 24 hours.