Thread by @HeshmatAlavi

#BREAKING
#Iran - #CoronavirusPandemic
Iranian authorities began digging a pair of trenches for victims just days after the government disclosed the initial outbreak. Together, their lengths are that of a football field.
washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/…

"According to expert analysis, video testimony and official statements, the graves were dug to accommodate the rising number of virus victims in Qom."
#Iran
#CoronavirusPandemic

Qom is the spiritual center of Iran’s ruling Shiite Muslim clerics. With a population of about 1.2 million, the city is about 80 miles south of Tehran. Iran’s first two cases of coronavirus were in Qom.

Earlier this month, videos surfaced on social media showing vast and hurriedly dug areas in the cemetery.
#Iran
#CoronavirusPandemic

In satellite imagery from October, a large section of the cemetery appears unused. The imagery was provided to The Washington Post by Maxar Technologies, a Colorado-based space technology company.
#Iran
#CoronavirusPandemic

In the weeks after the first confirmed coronavirus cases in Qom, Iranian authorities dug two large trenches, totaling 100 yards in length, in the previously unused area of the cemetery to accommodate the rising number of victims.
#Iran
#CoronavirusPandemic

Satellite imagery from March 1 shows the two trenches. Excavation continued after that.

Videos, satellite images & other open-source data from the Qom cemetery suggest that the number of people struck down by the virus in Qom is significantly higher than the official figure.

March 2 - Qom
Voice says all the bodies are coronavirus victims.

In addition to satellite imagery, videos posted on social media from the cemetery show the extended rows of graves at Behesht-e Masoumeh and say they are meant for coronavirus victims.

Video from Qom

The imagery analyst also pointed to an image showing what appears to be a large white pile of lime, which can be used to manage decay and odor in mass graves. Iranian health officials have in recent weeks confirmed the use of lime when burying coronavirus victims.

“This is the section for coronavirus victims,” the narrator says. “More than 80 [people] have been buried in this section so far, and they say only 34 deaths,” he says, citing the official death toll on Feb. 28.

March 2 - Qom

“A worker told me that they must have buried more than 250 coronavirus victims so far. These are all graves and they are fresh. These are all from the last few days. And as you can see, it goes on until the end.”

"Damn you @khamenei_ir! Damn you @HassanRouhani! Damn you state media & your lies! All of Qom is dying! They didn't tell people the truth. I couldn't even hug my mom. Corpses are piling," says a man who lost his mother to COVID-19.
#CoronavirusPandemic

Gilan Province, N #Iran
Coronavirus patients buried in non-standard & very dangerous methods.

Millions of Iranians are at risk. Officials are not taking adequate measures to provide desperately needed aid for the people.
#CoronavirusPandemic

Gilan Province, N #Iran

Locals protesting burial of a COVID-19 victim in a cemetery very close to people's homes.

Such dangerous corpses should be buried in designated areas far from urban districts, especially residential areas.
#CoronavirusPandemic