India's staggering COVID-19 death toll could be 6 million: Study

The study suggests 6 million people may have died.

New research suggests that India’s COVID-19 death toll during its first and second waves might have been significantly undercounted, with the actual number potentially 12 times higher than the official stats -- over 6 million people.

That would be by far the highest COVID death toll in the world -- greater than the U.S. at more than 811,000.

India was devastated by a crushing wave of the delta variant in April and May, with supply shortages, makeshift clinics and images of funeral pyres burning nonstop.

There was a sense at the time that the number of deaths was an undercount and a study in July indicated that deaths could be 10 times the official toll, although that research had limitations.