Katrina death toll still rising
2005-12-16 21:41
Baton Rouge - The body of another Hurricane Katrina victim was found this week.
The find brings the number of verified deaths in Louisiana to 1 072, and the number of bodies found since the storm to 1 095.
On Friday, the Louisiana state department of health and hospitals said 12 of the 902 bodies examined at the disaster morgue in Carville have been released to families since last week. This brings the total to 535.
Morgue workers are trying to find the families of another 169 bodies.
The department said the number of unidentified victims is down from 211 to 197.
Louisiana's body search was called off on October 3, but emergency workers and residents returning to destroyed homes continue to find the dead.
Katrina killed 231 people in Mississippi, 14 in Florida, and two each in Alabama and Georgia, for a five-state total of 1 321.
Louisiana's health department gets its figures from the hurricane morgue and from parish coroners, who have handled 193 bodies.
- AP