Currently, no bodies are being stored in these containers, Berry said.
So far this year the M.E.‘s office has recorded 25 “heat-associated deaths,” with 249 still under investigation.
Five of the deaths were people whose bodies were found inside residences with air conditioners that were either not working or not turned on, the M.E.’s report shows. The rest of the fatalities were people who succumbed to the blistering heat while outside.
The vast majority of the victims were ages 50 and older, according to the M.E.’s office, with 32% of the fatalities being people 75 and older.
Asked who these people were, Berry said “the deceased who are brought into the Medical Examiner’s Office are typically people whose deaths are considered suspicious or who die under unique circumstances, like heat-related deaths.”
Of those, a number of the deceased “were likely people who experienced homelessness,” said Berry. “I have also heard anecdotally about hikers who went out hiking without being fully prepared for high heat.”
Last year at this time, the M.E. had recorded 38 confirmed heat-related deaths. But the first heat-related death was reported in March 2022, a whole month before the first death of this type was recorded this year, according to the M.E.’s report.
This is not the first time the M.E.’s office has leased refrigerated containers, Berry said. When Covid was surging through Phoenix in the summer of 2022, 10 of the units were brought in to store the bodies of pandemic victims.
The fiberglass containers were leased from Polar Leasing, an Indiana-based company with affiliates across the country. NBC News has reached out for comment to the company.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
