Amass grave is agrave containing multiplehuman corpses, which may or maynot be identified prior to burial. TheUnited Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims ofexecution,[1] although an exact definition is not unanimously agreed upon.[2][3][4] Mass graves are usually created after many people die or are killed, and there is a desire to bury the corpses quickly for sanitation concerns. Although mass graves can be used during major conflicts such aswar andcrime, in modern times they may be used after afamine,epidemic, ornatural disaster. Indisasters, mass graves are used forinfection anddisease control. In such cases, there is often a breakdown of the social infrastructure that would enable proper identification and disposal of individual bodies.[5]
Many different definitions have been given. The Bournemouth Protocol on Mass Grave Protection and Investigation focuses on circumstances that suggest that the deaths were unlawful.[6]
The debate surrounding mass graves amongepidemiologists includes whether or not, in a natural disaster, to leave corpses for traditional individual burials, or to bury corpses in mass graves. For example, if an epidemic occurs during winter, flies are less likely to infest corpses, reducing the risk of outbreaks ofdysentery,diarrhea,diphtheria, ortetanus, which decreases the urgency to use mass graves. A research published in 2004 indicates that thehealth risks from dead bodies after natural disasters are relatively limited.[7][8]
Mass or communal burial was a common practice before the development of a dependablecrematory chamber by Ludovico Brunetti in 1873. In ancient Rome waste and dead bodies of thepoor were dumped into mass graves calledputiculi.[9]
In Paris, the practice of mass burial, and in particular, the condition of theCimetière des Innocents, ledLouis XVI to eliminate Parisian cemeteries. The remains were removed and placed in the Paris underground forming the earlyCatacombs.Le Cimetière des Innocents alone had 6,000,000 dead to remove. Burial commenced outside the city limits in what is nowPère Lachaise Cemetery.[10]
A mass grave containing at least 300 bodies of victims of aMongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in the year 1238, was discovered during an excavation in 2005, in Yaroslavl, Russia.[11]
A mass grave containing at least 47 soldiers that were brutally massacred following theBattle of Lützen of theThirty Years' War, in the 17th century, which was Europe's deadliest religious conflict, was exhumed and reported in 2017 ofPLOS One magazine.Archaeological andosteological analyses found that the soldiers ranged in age from 15–50 years. Most corpses had evidence ofblunt force trauma to the head while seven men had stabbing injuries. Most of the soldiers died from gunshot wounds inflicted by pistols and cavalry carbines.[12][13]
Several mass graves have been discovered that were the result of Napoleonic battles, mass graves were dug for expeditious disposal of deceased soldiers and horses. Often soldiers would plunder the substantial quantity of corpses prior to burial. Generally the mass graves were dug by soldiers or members of logistical corps. If these units were not available, the corpses would be left to rot or would be burned. Such examples have been found scattered throughout Europe.[14][15]
Most mass graves dug during the Finnish Civil War hold Reds, the communist Soviet-backed side.[16] Many mass graves are located in uninhabited areas near the sites of the execution including thePohjois-Haaga mass grave, theTammisaari mass grave and theHyvinkää mass grave.[17] The Mustankallio Cemetery holds a mass grave of Reds executed at theHennala camp.[16]
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Mass graves from theTulsa race massacre were excavated in September 2023.[18]
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There are over 2,000 known mass graves throughoutSpain from theSpanish Civil War wherein an estimated 500,000 people died between 1936 and 1939, and approximately 135,000 were killed after the war ended.[19]
Exhumations are ongoing. Some are conducted on the basis of information given in witnesses' and relatives' testimonies to theAsociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (ARMH).[20] These testimonies serve the purpose of helpinggeophysicists,archaeologists andforensic scientists to locate graves in order to identify bodies and allow families to rebury their relatives.[19]
In the summer of 2008, information from these testimonies was used to unearth a 4 meter long square grave containing five skeletons near the town of San Juan del Monte. These five remains are believed to be of people that were kidnapped and killed after the 18 July 1936 military coup.[20]
Another mass grave from theSpanish Civil War was found usingGround Penetrating Radar (GPR).[when?] Eyewitness accounts identified two potential locations for an unmarked grave in mountains of Lena in Northern Spain. Both sites were examined and an unmarked mass grave of approximately 1 meter by 5 meters was found.[19]
Scientists investigated a second grave in 2023.[21]
TheNanjing Massacre (also known as the"Rape of Nanking" using the 1930sRomanization) was the mass murder of Chinese civilians inNanjing, the capital of theRepublic of China, immediately after theBattle of Nanking and the retreat of theNational Revolutionary Army in theSecond Sino-Japanese War, by theImperial Japanese Army.[22][23][24][25] Beginning on 13 December 1937, the massacre lasted six weeks.[note 1] The perpetrators also committed other war crimes such asmass rape,looting,torture, andarson. The massacre is considered to be one of the worst wartime atrocities.[27][28][29]
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The Mittelbau camps held about 60,000 prisoners ofThe Holocaust between August 1943 and March 1945. Conservative estimates assume that at least 20,000 inmates perished at theMittelbau-Dora concentration camp. In early April 1945, an unknown number of prisoners perished indeath marches following the evacuation of prisoners from Mittelbau camps toBergen-Belsen concentration camp in northernGermany.[30][31]
In April 1945, U.S. soldiers liberated theMittelbau-Dora concentration camp. Only a few prisoners were still in the camp and the U.S. soldiers found the remains of approximately 1,300 prisoners in the Boelcke barracks.[30] The names of these prisoners are unknown.[31] Mass graves of the dead prisoners from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp were dug by German civilians under orders from U.S. soldiers.[32][33]
TheHadassah convoy massacre took place on 13 April 1948, when a convoy, escorted byHaganah militia, bringing medical and military supplies and personnel toHadassah Hospital onMount Scopus, Jerusalem, was ambushed byArab forces.[34] The attack killed 79 people, including: medics, associated personnel, insurgent fighters from theHaganah, and oneBritish soldier. Dozens of unidentified bodies, burned beyond recognition, were buried in a mass grave in theSanhedria Cemetery.
Tantura was a Palestinian fishing village.[35] Historians and Palestinian survivors claimed the men in Tantura were the victims of amass execution after surrendering to theAlexandroni Brigade, and then their bodies buried in a mass grave.[35] The grave in Tantura was investigated byForensic Architecture,[36] a research agency based atGoldsmiths,University of London.[37] The grave is currently under the carpark of a popular Israeli beach.[38]
Approximately 100,000–200,000 civilians were killed at the start of theKorean War. These people were flagged by the government ofSouth Korea for potentially collaborating with or sympathizing withNorth Korea. They were arrested and subsequently executed without trial.[39] The sites where the massacres occurred were forbidden to the public. The bodies were considered to be traitors and the act of associating with them was considered treasonous.[39] Despite this, families retrieved bodies from the shallow forbidden mass graves at the massacre sites.
In 1956, bereaved families and villagers exhumed over 100 decomposed and unidentifiable bodies, ensuring that the complete human skeleton was intact.[39] Each exhumed body was buried in its own "nameless grave" in a cemetery onJeju Island. There is a granite memorial within the cemetery which bears the cemetery's local name, "Graves of One Hundred Ancestors and One Descendant."[39] This name functions to express the opposite of how the genealogy should be as typically many descendants derive from one ancestor.[39]
Numerous mass graves were discovered during theVietnam War. In the fall of 1969, the body count unearthed from mass graves was around 2,800. During the months and years that followed theBattle of Huế, dozens of mass graves were discovered in and aroundHuế. The victims of theHuế massacre buried in mass graves included government officials, innocent civilians, women and children. They were tortured, executed and in some cases, buried alive.[40] The estimated death toll was between 2,800 and 6,000 civilians and prisoners of war, or 5–10% of the total population ofHuế.
InQuang Ngai, a mass grave of 10 soldiers was discovered on 28 December 2011. These soldiers were buried alongside their belongings including wallets, backpacks, guns, ammunition, mirrors, and combs.[41]
Other larger mass graves of Vietnamese soldiers are believed to exist, with hundreds of soldiers in each grave.[42]
Israeli military historianAryeh Yitzhaki, who worked in theIDF's history department, said he had collected testimony from dozens of officers who admitted to killing Egyptianprisoners of war at various locations during theSix Day War.[43] Yitzhaki reported the case to his superiors, but the report remained in storage at IDF headquarters, until 1995, when the Washington Post reported two mass graves atArish in theSinai Peninsula.[43][44][45]
Ras Sedr massacre (Arabic:مجزرة رأس سدر) was theextrajudicial execution of at least 52 Egyptianprisoners of war by aparatrooper unit of theIsrael Defense Forces, that took place immediately after the unit conqueredRas Sedr in theSinai Peninsula on8 June 1967 during theSix-Day War.[43]
In 1995 two mass graves were found nearArish.[46] According to theEgyptian Organization for Human Rights, theIsraeli Defense Forces massacred "hundreds” of Egyptianprisonersof war orwounded soldiers in theSinai peninsula, on 8 June 1967. Survivors alleged that approximately 400 wounded Egyptians wereburied alive outside the capturedEl Arish International Airport, and that 150 prisoners in the mountains of the Sinai were run over by Israeli tanks.[47] Egyptian researchers have found mass graves of EgyptianPOWs from 1967.[48] The expedition was sponsored byal-Ahram,Cairo's government-run newspaper in 1995.[49] Conservative Israeli media and theBoston-based pro-Israel media advocacy organization "CAMERA" deny that there was a "massacre".[50][51]
After theSix-Day War in 1967, some 80 Egyptian soldiers were buried in a mass-grave in fields tended bykibbutzNahshon. The field was later turned into atheme park called "Mini Israel".[52][53] The commanders included 25 who burnt to death in a wild fire.[52] An attempt to publish this information in the 1990s was forbidden by themilitary censor, but the suppression order was lifted in 2022.[52] After publication inIsraeli newspapers,Yedioth Ahronoth andHaaretz, Egyptian presidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisi raised the issue with Israeli prime ministerYair Lapid, who directed hismilitary secretary, "to examine the issue in-depth and to update Egyptian officials".[54]
On the 6th of October 1973,Egypt andSyria launched a simultaneous surprise attack on Israel in an attempt to recover lost territories during the Six Day War. In retaliation for the previous killings of Egyptians pows in previous wars, Egyptian forces shot dozens of Israeli POW’s to death. In the upcoming years, remains of Israeli POW’s were found on the ruins of theBar Lev Line. Israeli historian Ariel Yitzhak estimated that a 200 Israelis where shot dead by the Egyptians during the war. An Israeli soldier stated that he saw 11 of his fellow soldiers getting shot dead by Egyptian forces.
TheChilean military coup against PresidentSalvador Allende occurred on 11 September 1973. The military surroundedSantiago and searched for people hiding in potential guerilla insurgent locations. Civilians were detained for long periods of time and some disappeared.[39] Following the coup, bodies were abundant in the streets and in theMapocho River. It is estimated that 3,200 people were executed or disappeared between 1973 and 1990 in Chile. Higher estimates are up to 4,500 people.[39] These bodies were taken to morgues to be identified and claimed. Unidentified bodies were buried in marked mass graves.[39]
From this conflict, several hidden mass graves have been identified. In December 1978, 15 bodies were discovered in an abandoned limestone mine inLonquén. In October 1979, 19 bodies were exhumed after being secretly buried at the cemetery ofYumbel.[39] Mass graves were also identified inSantiago's General Cemetery with multiple bodies being forced into a single coffin. This cemetery had an influx of over 300 bodies within a three-month time span. These mass graves were distinguished by a cross with the initials "NN." "NN" is indicative of the phrase "Nomen Nescio" or "no name." Following extensive media coverage of these mass graves, the Chilean military decided to exhume the bodies fromLonquén,Yumbel, andSantiago's General Cemetery. The military airdropped the exhumed bodies over open water or remote mountain locations.[39]
Many mass graves of bothTurkish andGreek Cypriots were found inCyprus afterTurkey invaded the island in 1974.[55][56] On 3 August, 14Greek Cypriotcivilians were executed and buried in a mass grave.[57] InEptakomi 12Greek Cypriots were found in a mass grave executed with their hands tied.[58] On the other hand, during theMaratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre, 126Turkish Cypriots including elderly people and children[59] were murdered byEOKA B and the inhabitants of the three villages were buried in mass graves with abulldozer. The villagers ofMaratha andSantalaris, 84 to 89 people in total,[60] were buried in the same grave.[61] Mass graves were used to buryTurkish Cypriot victims ofTochni massacre too.[56]
Mass grave mapping teams have located 125Khmer Rouge prison facilities and corresponding gravesites to date inCambodia while researching theKilling Fields. These mass graves are believed by villagers to possesstutelary spirits and signify the dead bodies becoming one with the earth.Buddhist rituals, which were taboo at the time, were performed in the 1980s which transformed the anonymous bodies into "spirits of the departed." In the 1990s, religious ceremonies were re-established and theFestival of the Dead was celebrated annually.[62]
On at 3:21 AM on 24 March 1976, the media told the people ofArgentina that the country was now under the "operational control of the Junta of General Commanders of the Armed Forces."[39] This event and years following it became known as the1976 Argentine coup d'état. PresidentIsabel Perón had been taken captive two hours prior to the media announcement. The new dictatorship implemented travel bans, public gatherings, and a nighttime curfew.[39] Additionally, the new dictatorship resulted in widespread violence, leading to executions and casualties.
Abducted captives were disposed of in one of the five defense zones within Argentina where they were held. The bodies were typically buried in individual marked anonymous graves. Three mass graves are known to exist on Argentinian police and military premises although other bodies were disposed of throughcremation or by being airdropped over theAtlantic Ocean. Approximately 15,000 people are estimated to have been assassinated.[39]
Argentina's largest mass grave's exhumation began in March 1984 at the San Vicente Cemetery in Cordoba. The grave was 3.5 meters deep and 25 by 2.5 meters across. It contained approximately 400 bodies.[39] Of the recovered and exhumed bodies, 123 were of young people violently killed during the 1976–1983dictatorship. The remaining bodies were identified as older and having died nonviolent deaths such asleprosy.[39]
TheRwandan genocide began after the unsolved killing of the Rwandan president,Juvénal Habyarimana, on 6 April 1994. Extremist members of theHutu government formed an interim wartime government. They called for an extermination of theTutsi population, Hutu political opponents and Hutu who resisted the violence.[63] The genocide lasted 100 days and resulted in an estimated 800,000 killings.[64]
Rwandan people sought refuge in gathering places such as churches and stadiums. An estimated 4,000–6,000 people gathered in Kibuye Catholic Church. Around 17 April 1994, the church was surrounded by armedcivilians,police andgendarmes. Those inside were attacked with a variety of weapons includinggrenades,guns, andmachetes. Survivors of the attack were sought after and killed in the following days. Burial of these bodies took place in at least four mass graves.[65]
The first mass grave resulting from this attack was discovered behind the church where several bodies were left unburied and scattered. In December 1995,archaeologists surveyed the area and flagged any potential human remains. In January 1996,forensic anthropologists located and exhumed 53 skeletal assemblages.[65] A second mass grave was found under a tree marked with wire, indicating amemorial. Below the tree was a trench filled with multiple bodies. The third and fourth mass graves were found using a probe to test for deteriorating remains. The third grave was marked by the local population, similar to the second grave. The fourth grave was identified by a priest.[65]
Throughout theRwandan genocide, bodies were buried in mass graves, left exposed, or disposed of through rivers. At least 40,000 bodies have been discovered inLake Victoria which connects to Akagera River.[62]
Victims of theSrebrenica massacre were murdered by theArmy of Republika Srpska and buried in mass graves. Serb forces used mass graves throughout theBosnian War and thousands of victims remain unidentified as of 2017.[66]
TheSecond Libyan Civil War that began in 2014 is a proxy war between the UN-recognizedGovernment of National Accord (GNA) ofFayez al-Sarraj and theLibyan National Army (LNA) of the militia leaderKhalifa Haftar. In 2020, the GNA ousted the forces of Haftar, who is backed by theUnited Arab Emirates andRussia, and capturedTarhuna. The GNA discovered mass graves in the Harouda farm of the town that was under the control of the Kaniyat militiamen, who allied with Haftar in 2019. For a decade, the Kaniyat militia brutalized and killed more than a thousand civilians, where around 650 were murdered in 14 months under the UAE-backed Haftar forces. Thousands of holes were dug by government workers, where 120 bodies recovered. The unearthed remains were used by the families to identify the missing members and only 59 bodies were claimed. Survivors reported that the Kaniyat militia aligned with the UAE-backed Haftar tortured or electrocuted them. Many also reported being beaten by the militia.[67]
On 1 April 2022, following the Russian withdrawal, video footage was posted to social media, that showed mass civilian casualties. By 9 April, Ukrainian forensic investigators had begun recovering bodies from mass graves, such as at the church of Andrew the Apostle.[68] 116 bodies were found in the mass grave near the Church of Andrew the Apostle.[69] On 21 April, Human Rights Watch published an extensive report that summarized their own investigation inBucha, implicating Russian troops in summary executions, other unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, and torture.[70]
Mariupol's deputy mayorSerhii Orlov stated on 9 March 2022 that at least 1,170 civilians in the city had been killed in the city since Russia's invasion began and the dead were being buried in mass graves.[71]
By April 2022 several new mass graves located in vicinity ofMariupol were discovered using satellite footage.[72]
In early November 2022, Ukraine stated that at least 25,000 civilians had been killed in Mariupol.[73] In late December 2022, based on the discovery of 10,300 new mass graves, the Associated Press estimated that the true death toll may be up to three times that figure.[74]
On 15 September 2022, several mass graves, including one site containing at least 440 bodies were found in woods near the Ukrainian city ofIzium after it was recaptured by Ukrainian forces.[75][76] The graves contained bodies of people who were killed by Russian forces.[77][78][79] One of the victims was a Ukrainian poet, children's writer, activist and WikipedianVolodymyr Vakulenko.
According to Ukrainian investigators, 447 bodies were discovered: 414 bodies of civilians (215 men, 194 women, 5 children), 22 servicemen, and 11 bodies whose gender had not yet been determined as of 23 September 2022. Most of the dead showed signs of violent death and 30 presented traces of torture and summary execution, including ropes around their necks, bound hands, broken limbs and genital amputation.[80]
In April 2024, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, over 300 bodies were unearthed at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis,Gaza. The bodies exhibited signs of having been bound and potentiallyexecuted in the field. Reports indicate that two other mass graves have been identified, but have yet to be excavated.[81][82][83]
In April 2024, health workers in Gaza exhumed the first bodies from mass graves at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where at least 381 bodies were found after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, following their two-week siege. Officials claim that many bodies showed signs of severe trauma, including being crushed or disfigured, and claim this is partially the result of being run over by Israeli tanks during thebattle.[84] The graves included both buried and above-ground remains, some under dirt or plastic sheeting.[84][85]
In July 2010, a mass grave was discovered next to thePeter and Paul Fortress inSt. Petersburg, containing the corpses of 80 military officers executed during theRed Terror of 1918–1921.[86] By 2013 a total of 156 bodies had been found in the same location.[87] At about the same time a mass grave from the Stalinist period was discovered in Vladivostok, on Russia's Pacific coast.[88]
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In 2010, the bodies of 222 infants fromBethany Home, were found in a mass unmarked grave inDublin.[89]
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TheCanadian Indian residential school system[nb 1] was a network ofboarding schools for Indigenous children directed and funded by theDepartment of Indian Affairs.[91] Administered by various Christian churches and funded bythe federal Canadian government from 1828 to 1997 Canadian Indian residential school system attempted to assimilate Indigenous children intoEuro-Canadian culture.[92][93] Over 4,000 students died while attending Canadian residential school.[94] Students' bodies were often buried in school cemeteries to keep costs as low as possible.[95] Comparatively few cemeteries associated with residential schools are explicitly referenced in surviving documents, but the age and duration of the schools suggests that most had a cemetery associated with them.[96] Many cemeteries were unregistered, and as such the locations of many burial sites and names of residential school children have been lost.[97]
As of September 2024[update], no bodies have been exhumed from the suspected gravesites due to a lack community consensus on whether to investigate detected anomalies at the risk of disturbing burials. Disputes regarding the conclusiveness of the evidence has helped spawn a movement of denialism about the existence of some or all residential school burial sites.[98][99][100] Indigenous groups and academics have dismissed claims of a "mass grave hoax", saying that claimed discoveries of mass graves was uncommon in most popular media and that there had been public misinterpretation of what had actually been announced in 2021.[99][101] Federal Justice MinisterDavid Lametti said in 2023 that he was open to outlawing residential school denialism.[99] His successor,Arif Virani, has not taken a position on the issue.[102]
Ireland's Great Famine lasted from 1845 to 1849, a period wherein about one million people died.[103] Because of the excessive number of deaths and extremepoverty, many families were unable to provide awake or proper burial for loved ones and used mass graves instead. Archaeologicalexcavations have taken place on Irish mass burial sites. One excavation revealed a mass grave of nearly 1,000 individuals. The skeletons within the grave were layered on top of each other in multiple sub-rectangular pits positioned less than a meter apart.[104]
TheBrunner Mine disaster occurred at 9:30 a.m. on 26 March 1896. An underground explosion caused the death of 65 miners, making itNew Zealand's deadliest mining disaster. Of the 53 victims buried in Stillwater cemetery, 33 victims were in one mass grave.[105]
Following the2010 Haiti earthquake, thousands of bodies were left in the streets onPort-au-Prince, exposed to the sun and beginning todecompose and smell.[5] Thegovernment of Haiti collected the bodies on the street, along with rubble through use of dump trucks and other heavy machinery. The bodies and rubble were then transported to empty rectangular holes, 20 feet deep, 20 feet wide and 100 feet long.[106] No efforts were taken to identify the dead that were transported and buried.
Within Haitian culture, burial rituals hold great significance and the sacred ceremonies can cost more than their own homes.[106] There is aHaitian Vodou belief that the dead continue to live and are connected to their ancestors through these rituals. The burial of unidentified corpses in mass graves rather than familial plots severs this spiritual link between the living and dead.[106]
As the casualties of theTyphoon Haiyan were in the thousands, unidentified or unknown corpses were buried in several mass graves in Leyte (especially inTacloban City where the most deaths happened), Samar, and other areas, while identified corpses were given to their families for burial.
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Thebubonic plague outbreak existed in three pandemic waves and is known as theBlack Death. In the 1300s alone, an estimated 20–30 million people were killed inEurope and approximately 12 million people were killed inChina.[107] These deaths were at least 30 percent of the European population at that time. The last major outbreak of thebubonic plague occurred inLondon from 1665–1666 and is known asThe Great Plague.[108]
In March 2013, aplague pit of 25 skeletons was found in a 5.5 meter-wide shaft during the construction of a new railway in London. The skeletons were neatly lined up in two rows and were about 8 feet underground.[107] Samples from 12 corpses were taken and forensic analysis confirmed traces of DNA fromYersinia pestis.[109]
In several territories, the amount of death caused by the 1918Spanish flu pandemic was beyond the capacities of funeral industry, requiring the use of mass graves.[110] Several mass graves of Spanish flu victims were created inAustralia,[111]Canada,[112] and theUnited States.[113][114]
Burial practices were a controversial aspect of theWest African Ebola epidemic. Traditionalburial practices exacerbated spread of the disease,[115] an Ebola victim is most contagious in the moments and days after death and contact with infected bodily fluids from a recently dead Ebola victim's body carries an extremely high risk of transmission,[116] but burial practices that were seen as disrespectful exacerbated distrust of foreign medical workers.[117]
In most cases there were mass burials of numerous individual graves[118] and family were often unable or not allowed to participate in burial rituals.[115]
Sometimes multiple bodies were placed in single unmarked graves.[117]
Reports of mass graves having been dug forCOVID-19 victims have been made aboutIran, using satellite pictures of sites nearQom as evidence.[119][120][121] On 12 March 2020The Washington Post published satellite images and analysis provided byMaxar Technologies, saying that vast burial pits were being excavated nearQom, said to be used to accommodate people who died of COVID in the city. The digging of the new section of burial pits began on 21 February 2020, only two days after the government announced their first cases of COVID-19, and then rapidly expanded. The number of fresh graves suggests preparation for a far larger number of deaths.[122][123]
InNew York City, mass graves were prepared inHart Island for an influx of dead;[124][125] however, other reports said mass graves would be unlikely in the United States.[126]University of Huddersfield experts said mass graves might be considered if local services end up overwhelmed.[127][128][129] Following the rise of deaths and morgues being overwhelmed, New York City temporarily allowed for mass graves on Hart Island for unclaimed bodies.[130][131]
InBrazil, the city ofManaus, in the state ofAmazonas, used mass graves[132][133] after a large spike in deaths attributed to the pandemic.
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A team guided by an Egyptian veteran of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war has unearthed in the Sinai Peninsula two mass graves of Egyptian prisoners of war allegedly killed by the Israeli army…
Cairo's government-run newspaperal-Ahram said Wednesday. The daily newspaper, which sponsored the expedition, said excavators and a dredger dug for just six hours before finding the first grave with the help ofAbdel-Salam Moussa, a former EgyptianPOW who allegedly helped bury his comrades 28 years ago.
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