VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981. (File photo: AFP/Mariana SUAREZ)

VOInews, Lima : Peruvian authorities said on Tuesday (Nov 19) they have tightened security at the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu after tourists there were filmed dispersing what were believed to be human ashes.

Last week, citizens in Peru were outraged by a non-dated video on TikTok in which a woman at the tourist site took ashes from a plastic bag and threw them in the air, then hugged another woman. The video had a caption about "saying goodbye with much love at Machu Picchu" and hashtags with the words "ashes" and "spreading ashes".

The 30-second video was first shown on the account @IncaGoExpeditions, belonging to a travel agency, before it was removed from TikTok.

Cesar Medina, the head of Machu Picchu archaeological park, told AFP that officials were going to hire more guards and install more surveillance cameras.

He said there was nothing in local laws barring people from spreading human ashes in public.

But this will now be barred at Machu Picchu for health reasons, Medina said.

Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the site welcomes an average of 5,600 visitors a day but until now had only four cameras and a small team of security guards.

The ancient citadel, built in the 15th century by Incan emperor Pachacuti, sits at an altitude of 2,438m in the Peruvian Andes//CNA-VOI