Government officials in Ecuador began the process of finding a location to build a mass gravesite to bury the rising number of casualties from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Ecuador’s Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner told the local news outlet Ecuavisa that he spoke with local mayors, particularly the mayor of Guayaquil, about building the gravesite. Once filled, the country would build a memorial for victims of the coronavirus.

Debido a la cantidad de víctimas mortales por el COVID-19, se construirá una fosa común en un cementerio de #Guayaquil ➡️ https://t.co/HYvM3MjfHh pic.twitter.com/8sZgovyxEt — Ecuavisa (@ecuavisa) March 27, 2020

Maria Paula Romo, Ecuador’s Minister for the Interior, stated in various streamed interviews that the country is having problems identifying the victims of the novel coronavirus in her country. According to Ecuavisa, of the daily fatalities, health officials are being faced with the challenge of determining which individuals died from COVID-19 and which ones died from other causes.

Currently, Ecuador has 48 fatalities directly tied to Coronavirus and 25 suspicious deaths where the virus had not been confirmed at the time of death. Currently, the Central American nation has a total of 1,823 confirmed cases that are in various stages of being treated.

According to the local news outlet, the mass grave is being built to hold 300 bodies. Officials said that figure could change. The ultimate plan calls for officials to build a mausoleum over the mass graves.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.

Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report