Puerto Rico Morgue Moved Cadavers at 4 A.M. Amid Rising Scrutiny
- Post-hurricane wave of deaths has bodies stored in trailers
- Agency’s problems exemplify bankrupt island’s challenges
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Workers from Puerto Rico’s beleaguered forensic sciences department moved two corpses from stop-gap refrigerator trailers in the early hours of Tuesday, after there were complaints about a foul odor and before inspectors arrived.
The grisly episode sheds new light on the challenges at the morgue, which has become a symbol of dysfunction in the bankrupt commonwealth. After Hurricane Maria last September, the department was overwhelmed with more bodies than it could efficiently process, and turned to auxiliary storage provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.