In nearly three decades of work, the oldest gravediggers at the largest cemetery in Sao Paulo recall having buried less than 10 nighttime burials. But since the second wave of the pandemic in Brazil worsened, that exception became the rule.
The staggering increase in the number of cases and deaths in Sao Paulo in recent months forced the mayor of the richest and most populous city in the country to adjust his funeral plan to avoid a collapse: In addition to hiring more staff and vehicles to keep up with demand, night shifts were allowed in four of the 22 municipal cemeteries, where 600 graves are opened daily.
One is Vila Formosa, the largest in Brazil and Latin America, and one of the postcards of the deadly cost of the pandemic in Brazil, where more than 360,000 people have already died from Covid-19.
At 6 p.m. the Changing of the Guard takes place and the two huge lamps powered by generators light up, illuminating the graves and drenching the site with the scent of diesel. It’s the beginning of autumn and in this tree-lined cemetery on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, the temperature is around 16 degrees.
Eight gravediggers, dressed in white overalls, masks and gloves, arrive in two vans. They descend and form in a circle around the pits, hands behind the body, head down; As a sign of respect, they observe a minute of silence. Then they go for the shovels and load the first deceased of the night.
‘Are there no relatives?’ One asks. “No. You can bury”, another replies, with the deceased’s documents in hand.
In May 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, the cemetery contained three excavators to open 60 wells a day. Now there are six machines that dig 200 graves a day, the gravediggers say, extending their work until 10 p.m.
They also hired about 50 vans to load bodies because the funeral cars weren’t enough. The mayor’s office denies that school transportation vehicles are part of this fleet, a version widely circulated in the local media.
– More than 300 funerals a day –
Shortly after, a van arrives with another drawer. A large group of family members surround the grave where the 57-year-old man, whose file says he died of Covid-19, will be buried.
The sons of the deceased ask for a ‘verdeamarela’ shirt from the Brazilian team to be placed on the coffin. “It’s all we can do,” says the gravedigger excitedly holding the burial documents.
Four men begin to deposit reddish sand on the box that is covered in seconds. Screams of pain mingle with the sound of kicking and the hum of electric generators.
Already accustomed to the presence of journalists and photographers, the gravediggers talk to each other but ask not to be identified. Nearly all vaccinated, they say the pandemic affected more the funeral homes’ administrative staff than those who worked in open spaces like them.
“I wanted this to end soon because it’s very sad. We try not to get excited in our work, but it’s sad, it’s a lot of people, for a long time,” says one of the gravediggers as he takes off. a pair of green gloves on the end of his watch.
Vila Formosa is home to more than 1.5 million corpses on its 750,000 m2. In March, it peaked with 105 funerals in one day, three times the pre-pandemic average.
On March 30, the city of Sao Paulo set a record by burying 426 people in one day. The experience has not been repeated since then; the current average is 391 deaths and 325 funerals per day.
The mayor’s office warns that if the daily average exceeds 400 funerals, it will take new measures, although it rules out the Vila Formosa becoming operational 24 hours a day.
The city council is analyzing the construction of a vertical cemetery in the eastern area, while the Vila Formosa blocks are quickly filling up.
The gravediggers estimate that they have already used 26 lots in 12 months, an area that would yield more than two years of burial in pre-pandemic times.
“There is room to continue here,” says one of the men. “Now, at this rate, I don’t know how long it will take.”