Puerto Rico’s government began complying with a court order and released partial records Tuesday of deaths following Hurricane Maria. The data reveal that there were 1,427 more deaths in the last four months of 2017 than the average over the four years before. The new count comes as questions swirl around the official death toll and reports that hundreds of bodies remain unclaimed in the island’s main morgue.
The official death toll from Hurricane Maria stands at 64, but as early as December Gov. Ricardo Rossello conceded the count is inaccurate. He has said he will not raise the official figure until George Washington University completes a study on the data.
The order to release the records came in response to a lawsuit filed by CNN and Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism.
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