A troop of monkeys has attacked a laboratory assistant and escaped with a batch of coronavirus blood test samples from a hospital in India, according to authorities.
The incident began as the lab assistant, who was not seriously injured in the attack, was transporting newly collected samples outside the Meerut Medical College in Delhi.
Head of the hospital, SK Garg, said the sample box contained packets of blood from people who had tested positive to COVID-19.
After grabbing the samples, the monkeys fled to a nearby residential area. They then climbed trees and were seen chewing the packets before throwing them away.
No individuals were believed to have come into contact with the samples, and hospital authorities have sanitised the area.
