New Delhi CNN  — 

Three nurses and two doctors have been suspended in India’s central Madhya Pradesh state after ants were found crawling on the body of a recently deceased patient in a local hospital.

A 50-year-old man who was suffering from abdominal tuberculosis, died on Tuesday morning. Soon after his death, nurses at the Shivpuri District Hospital covered his body with a bed sheet while they informed his family.

His family arrived at the ward soon after, where his wife discovered ants crawling around his eyes.

“An investigation has been ordered against the civil surgeon, the duty doctor Dinesh Rajput and the three nurses who were working on the day,” Shivpuri district official Anugraha P told CNN.

She added that while authorities are aware the hospital has basic facilities, there is “still a way for the body to be handled humanely, to be cleaned and put in cold storage before it is given to the family for the last rites.”

Kamal Nath, the state’s chief minister and a member of the Congress opposition party, tweeted that “such incidents put humanity to shame and cannot be tolerated.”

“Strict action will be taken against those found guilty of negligence,” Nath said.

Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia also took to social media, posting a video message calling the incident “an embarrassment to humanity and very sad and heartbreaking.”

“I have requested the (state) Health Minister Tulsi Silawat to look into the matter and take strict action against the culprits so that such incidents do not occur in future,” Scindia added.