claim: All of the patients in the intensive care unit of a Puerto Rican hospital were killed by Hurricane Maria.
origin: In late September 2017, as accounts spread online about the scale of the devastation in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, a Chicago attorney shared a story his father told him about the deaths of every person in one hospitalâ€™s intensive care wing there, which dovetails with reports that the official death toll on the island territory is likely to increase dramatically. On 30 September 2017, Nelson M. Rosario posted remarks on Twitter that he attributed to his father, who lives in the territory. According to Rosario, his father â€œis helping with rebuilding right nowâ€ and has friends who were both â€œelected and appointedâ€ to the Puerto Rican government. Rosario said that he shared with his father U.S. President Donald Trumpâ€™s online rant against San Juan Mayor Carmen YulÃ­n Cruz that day: < The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump. Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. > In response, Rosario wrote in a series of tweets: < After I told him what the President said he went quiet and said â€œWow.â€ A second later he says â€œIâ€™m gonna share one detail with you. One. â€œThereâ€™s a medical center down here, and everyone that was in the Intensive Care Unit, died. Everyone. Thatâ€™s just one detail.â€ He said thatâ€™s what should be tweeted at the President @realDonaldTrump, so thatâ€™s what Iâ€™m doing. > The post containing his fatherâ€™s allegation has been retweeted more than 26,000 times: We contacted Rosario seeking more details about his fatherâ€™s anecdote. As of 30 October 2017, 51 deaths have been attributed to the hurricane. However, the local government reportedly allowed 911 bodies to be cremated and listed as deaths by â€œnatural causesâ€ without further investigation, prompting criticism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts): < These reports are extremely troubling â€” they provide even more reason to be concerned about the accuracy of the information weâ€™re receiving. The Trump Administration needs to cooperate with Puerto Rican authorities and provide all the necessary resources to ensure the death toll is accurately counted. > Puerto Rico Public Safety Secretary HÃ©ctor Pesquera said in an interview published by the nonprofit Center for Investigative Journalism on 2 October 2017 (when the death toll was at 16) that the number of dead is likely higher: < I believe there are more dead, but I donâ€™t have reports telling me [for example] eight died in MayagÃ¼ez because they lacked oxygen, that four died in San Pablo because they did not receive dialysis. > According to reporter Omaya Sosa Pascual: < When Pesquera was asked why the government insists on keeping the death toll at 16 nearly two weeks after the hurricane, and following multiple reports of additional victims, he said they have not added additional victims to the list because death certificates from deaths that occurred during those days in Puerto Rico have yet to be released, nor has it been possible to analyze the information to determine which were natural deaths and which were deaths related to emergency-related circumstances. â€œIâ€™m not saying it has not happened, Iâ€™m saying we can only certify what we know. When that information arrives, we will validate it. Iâ€™m not going to hide any numbers. Iâ€™m not going to hide any data,â€ he said. > Pascual Sosa has also reported, citing local sources, that â€œbodies are piling upâ€ inside area hospital morgues. Reporter David Begnaud, who is covering Mariaâ€™s aftermath from Puerto Rico, says that at least some of the deaths were â€œoxygen relatedâ€ â€” in other words, people were unable to use breathing machines or oxygen tanks because they had no power after the storm: < Confirmed: Oxygen related deaths following Hurricane Maria, as well as, suicide and heart attack Source: Gov @ricardorossello pic.twitter.com/A1W9oEalpY â€” David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) October 4, 2017 > On 3 October 2017, Rosario again criticized Trump after the president told Puerto Rican officials they â€œcan be very proudâ€ that 16 people had died compared to the 1,833 deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana in August 2005. Rosario wrote: < The death toll is not 16 @realDonaldTrump, the death toll is much higher. This is so dishonest. #TruthForPuertoRico > However, we have been so far unable to verify the specific story that Rosario first told.