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The number of deaths in Puerto Rico associated with Hurricane Fiona increased Tuesday to 21, the island’s government reported on its official statistics portal, prepared after the passage of the cyclone on September 19.
The breakdown of the dead is 13 under investigation, eight confirmed, seven as indirect death, and one as direct, according to the page.
The total number of deaths rises to 21, after the Department of Health reported 16 hurricane-related fatalities last Sunday.
The death classified as a direct result of the hurricane corresponds to a 58-year-old man in Bayamón, a municipality neighboring San Juan.
The three indirect deaths are a 50-year-old man from the Mayagüez region, a 56-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman from the municipality of Caguas.
Last week, the Puerto Rican Police reported several deaths related to the effects of the hurricane.
A 70-year-old man, who was in a room of his residence handling an electric generator, burned to death in the Hato Arriba neighborhood in the town of Arecibo.
In the municipality of Comerío, another man died after being swept away by the waters of the La Plata River, and an 89-year-old woman died in a fire caused by a candle in the town of San Sebastián.
The website details the age, gender, region, and date of the deceased, the last death being that of a man on September 21 in Bayamón, a municipality near San Juan.
The page also explains that a confirmed fatal case is when a person’s death on the death certificate refers to Hurricane Fiona, or its equivalent, as a factor in the cause of death.
Meanwhile, a directly related disaster fatality is a death directly attributable to the forces of the disaster or the direct consequences of these forces, such as structural collapse, flying debris, or exposure to radiation or chemicals.
Examples are burns, crushing, drowning, electrocution, falls, radiation or chemical poisoning, and inhalation of gases or smoke from fire.
