Gravediggers toil as Jakarta prepares third COVID cemetery

Labor rallies and local elections add to fears over Indonesia's dire death toll

20201007 grave in Jakarta

A Jakarta cemetery worker prepares a new grave in April. © Reuters

ERWIDA MAULIA, Nikkei staff writer

JAKARTA -- Muhaemin looked on as a dozen men dug fresh graves and ambulances brought yet more bodies to the vast Pondok Ranggon cemetery he supervises in eastern Jakarta.

The gravediggers worked quickly last week as heavy rain turned the red soil into mud. The dead had to be buried immediately, in line with protocol for people who die of COVID-19 or are suspected of having fallen to the virus.

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