In a bizarre consequence of Eid al-Adha celebrations in Bangladesh, animal sacrifices have combined with heavy rains to leave the streets awash with blood.
Shocking photos emerged from the capital Dhaka Wednesday that showed residents wading through streets flooded with a mix of animal blood and rainwater.
Also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha commemorates when God appeared to Abraham — known as Ibrahim to Muslims — in a dream and asked him to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience.
As Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, God stopped him and gave him a sheep to kill in place of his son. To commemorate God’s test of Ibrahim, many Muslim families sacrifice a goat, cow or sheep and share the meat with the poor.
The holiday is the second biggest in the Muslim calendar after Eid al-Fitr, which follows the conclusion of Ramadan.
Authorities had designated 1,000 places in the city where people could make sacrifices, but some people still killed animals in the street, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
Heavy rain combined with bad drainage spread the blood-stained water through Dhaka.
The unusual scenes elicited a strong reaction on social media.
Critics and animal activists took the opportunity to call the ancient ritual barbaric, while other complaints were leveled at Dhaka’s poor drainage system, as the capital has a longstanding problem with flooding.