NEW DELHI (AP) They were hungry. Some had not eaten for days. Others survived on water and biscuits.

But they walked anyway for hundreds of miles, in groups of families that included men and women, young and old all trudging along deserted highways.

Some had nothing but flip-flops on their feet, and others lugged bags on their heads. Young parents balanced children on their shoulders.

Over the past week, Indias migrant workers the mainstay of the countrys labor force spilled out of big cities that have been shuttered due to the coronavirus and returned to their villages, sparking fears that the virus could spread to the countryside.

It was an exodus unlike anything seen in India since the 1947 Partition, when British colonial rule ended and the subcontinent was split between Hindu-majority India and mostly Muslim Pakistan.

Indias 21-day lockdown has effectively kept 1.3 billion people at home for all but essential trips to places like markets or pharmacies. But the worlds largest lockdown has turned into a humanitarian crisis for Indias improvised workforce.