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Monkeys Attack Scientist And 'Escape Lab With Covid-19 Samples'

Monkeys Attack Scientist And 'Escape Lab With Covid-19 Samples'

One monkey was spotted in a tree, chewing on a testing kit

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

A group of monkeys in India attacked a scientist and escaped a lab, making off with Covid-19 samples.

According to local reports, a gang of primates became aggressive with a lab technician at Meerut Medical College in Delhi.

They then stole a batch of Covid-19 test samples that belonged to three patients, as well as testing kits, and fled the scene.

Footage shared by local media shows one of the monkeys sitting high up in a tree, chewing on the stolen 'sample collection kit'.

According to reports, the bizarre incident has caused some concern in the area, as Meerut has one of the largest numbers of cases of Covid-19 in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The 'monkey menace', as it has been labelled by local media, is not new to the area, though, with hospital staff having previously urged the authorities to do something about it.

A group of monkeys reportedly attacked a lab technician and stole a batch of Covid-19 test samples and kits.
Mirror Now

It's understood that following the latest incident, the Meerut Medical College administration is looking into the matter.

According to the latest official figures, more than 168,000 people in India have contracted the deadly virus, with over 72,000 recovering. Sadly, however, 4,810 (at the time of writing) have tragically died as a result.

This isn't the first incident of monkeys being caught acting aggressively towards humans.

Earlier this month, shocking footage was released showing the moment a monkey tried to 'kidnap' a little girl after jumping off a bike it was riding and pulling her away down an alley.

Witnesses could be heard screaming as they saw the monkey grab the little girl's dress and drag her part way down the narrow street.

Filmed from above, the monkey abandons its bike, which looks like a mini motorcycle, before pulling her along and eventually giving up and running away.

Thought to have been filmed in Tanjungsari Village, Indonesia, it approached a bench where a woman and three young girls were sitting, before taking one of the children away.

A monkey was caught trying to kidnap a child.
Twitter

Thankfully, another man ran into the shot and scared the monkey off and the toddler ran crying back to her mother.

Although it might seem funny at first glance - if anything, because it's such a strange situation - social media users think they have found a more sinister reason for the incident.

When it was shared on Reddit, one person wrote that they noticed a cord around the monkey's neck, and added that they think it was being trained - which is the reason it was being filmed in the first place.

They wrote: "OK so what really happens is those monkeys get put on a toy bike (that doesn't have an engine) and a collar with a rope on it.

"The owner then yanks the cord so the monkey flies from one end of the street to the other while steering.

"Pretty cruel and that's probably why the monkey is so strung out. You can see the owner trying to pull back on the cord and he pulls the monkey while it hangs on to the kid, and in the start yanking the cord to propel the bike."

Featured Image Credit: Mirror Now