NEW YORK — Police were called to a Brooklyn neighborhood Wednesday when a funeral home overwhelmed by the coronavirus resorted to storing dozens of bodies on ice in rented trucks, and a passerby complained about the smell, officials said.
Investigators who responded to a 911 call found that the home had rented four trucks to hold about 50 corpses, according to a law enforcement official. No criminal charges were brought and the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home was cited for failing to control the odors. The home was able to obtain a larger, refrigerated truck later in the day, the official said.
We are getting reports of people in the neighborhood smelling a foul odor near Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services. We are getting reports that the odor was dead bodies in these U-Haul trucks. We’ll keep you updated on @NY1 pic.twitter.com/emOz6vuuCr
— Justine Re (@JustineReTV) April 29, 2020
Workers suited up in protective gear could be seen in the afternoon transferring bodies into the refrigerated truck.
A person who answered the phone at the funeral home hung up without speaking. Subsequent calls went to voicemail, which was full.
New York City funeral homes have struggled as at least 18,000 people have died in the city since late March.
The city set up temporary morgues. Hospitals used refrigerated tractor trailers to cart away multiple bodies at a time, sometimes loading them in public view on the sidewalk. Crematoriums have been backed up. Funeral directors across the city have pleaded for help as they have run out of space.
#BREAKING Cops are at Brooklyn funeral home after neighbors complain of foul odor and blood under Uhaul trucks where the bodies were reportedly stored instead of refrigerated trucks. Full video incoming pic.twitter.com/OalR30Ws2a
— @SCOOTERCASTER (@ScooterCasterNY) April 29, 2020
The NYPD notified the state Department of Health, which oversees funeral homes, about the situation at the Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home. It did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams went to the scene on Wednesday evening. He told the Daily News, “While this situation is under investigation, we should not have what we have right now, with trucks lining the streets filled with bodies.”
He said “it was people who walked by who saw some leakage and detected an odor coming from a truck.”
