The Missing Bodies of Guayaquil

In March and April, Guayaquil in Ecuador was the epicentre of the Covid pandemic in Latin America. The city’s health services began to collapse fast, so that the bodies of the dead were not collected from homes. Being at a loss to know what to do, desperate families deposited the remains of their loved ones in the streets. Eventually they were picked up, but in the chaos, some of the remains of those who died went missing. For Crossing Continents, Mike Lanchin follows the story of Rita Baque as she searches for the body of her late husband.

Producer in Ecuador: Blanca Moncada. Editor: Bridget Harney