Morgue a stink in Puerto Rico

Workers from Puerto Rico’s beleaguered forensic sciences department moved two corpses from stop-gap refrigerator trailers last week after complaints about a foul odor and before inspectors arrived.

The grisly episode sheds new light on the challenges as the morgue, which has become a symbol of dysfunction in the bankrupt commonwealth, struggles with understaffing and a backlog of the handling of bodies. After Hurricane Maria in September, the department was overwhelmed with more bodies than it could handle efficiently and turned to auxiliary storage provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Workers and lawmakers have said the backlog reflects both a surge in mortality as well as understaffing and a lack of basic equipment.

Reports of a bad smell near the trailers prompted inspections from authorities, including the Puerto Rico Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The bodies were moved early Tuesday, according to Juan Oscar Morales, president of the health committee in Puerto Rico’s lower congressional chamber. Karixia Ortiz, a forensic sciences spokesman, confirmed his account.

On Monday, Gov. Ricardo Rossello said that he has asked the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for up to two years’ worth of technical support. He said it was unacceptable that people are waiting months for autopsy reports.

Puerto Rican lawmakers are investigating the island’s Institute of Forensic Science after complaints including bad odors. Forensic officials recently declined to open five containers holding 76 bodies when legislators showed up for a surprise visit.

An additional 259 bodies are kept inside the morgue. Overall, 56 bodies have been identified by relatives but remain unclaimed.

The U.S. commonwealth is struggling simultaneously to pay creditors and pensioners due $120 billion in aggregate, repair its infrastructure and remake a government defined for decades by corruption and inefficiency. The morgue, which has lost employees in an exodus to the mainland, has become a focus of popular anger.