The bodies of 200 people found in a building in Mariupol

The bodies of 200 people found in a building in Mariupol.

The bodies of 200 people were found in the rubble of a high-rise building in the Russian-controlled city of Mariupol in Ukraine, said an adviser to the city’s mayor, Petro Andryushchenko.

According to reports, the bodies were found with a “high degree of decomposition”, Andryushchenko said, adding that locals had refused to collect them and Russian authorities had left the country, leaving a foul odor all over.

Andryushchenko added that a large number of corpses were packed in an improvised morgue in Mariupol and “the city has turned into a permanent cemetery”.

Much of the city was destroyed for weeks by heavy Russian bombing and intense street fighting.