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Multiple lawsuits filed against Brooklyn funeral home that stored dozens of rotting bodies of COVID-19 victims in U-Haul trucks after 'running out of space' as outbreak ravaged NYC

A New York City funeral home accused of storing dozens of rotting bodies of COVID-19 victims in unrefrigerated U-Haul trucks has now been ...

A New York City funeral home accused of storing dozens of rotting bodies of COVID-19 victims in unrefrigerated U-Haul trucks has now been sued in multiple lawsuits filed by families of the deceased.
In total, four lawsuits were filed against the Brooklyn-based Andrew Cleckley Funeral Home on Monday. Two of the suits were filed in Brooklyn County Court, one in Kings County, and one federal suit in the Eastern District of New York.
Andrew Cleckley admitted at the beginning of the month that his business had been stretched to breaking point by the coronavirus, saying, ‘I ran out of space. Bodies are coming out of our ears.
After filling his chapel with more than 100 corpses, the funeral director hired two U-Haul trucks as overflow storage space.
Police were first alerted to the premises on April 29, after a series of complaints about a foul-smelling stench seeping out into the street were made by concerned residents.
After neighbors complained for weeks about the smell coming from U-Haul vans being used to store bodies at the funeral home, the NYPD investigated Wednesday and discovered 100 bodies in various stages of decomposition
A New York City funeral home accused of storing dozens of rotting bodies of COVID-19 victims in unrefrigerated U-Haul trucks has now been sued in multiple lawsuits filed by families of the deceased (Pictured: Cops in masks were seen maintaining a cordon around the funeral home on Thursday as their investigation continued)
Police were first alerted to the premises on April 29, after numerous complaints of a foul-smelling stench seeping out into the street were dialled in by concerned residents.
Police were first alerted to the premises on April 29, after numerous complaints of a foul-smelling stench seeping out into the street were dialled in by concerned residents. 
Investigators would later find between 30 to 40 corpses being stored in each truck as the facility struggled to keep up with the overwhelming surge of bodies due to the coronavirus outbreak. Other bodies were found stacked on the floor inside the premises.
The owner told city officials that its freezer had stopped working and they were forced to use the trucks as storage while bodies awaited burial or cremation.
In one of the complaints, the funeral home is accused of ‘mishandling, abuse and desecration of the remains’ of the plaintiff's father, claiming his remains were discovered among the ‘scores of bodies that were desecrated and abandoned’ in the U-Haul trucks outside the premises.

The suit, filed by the victim’s daughter, says her father’s remains ‘came to this disrespectful, unimaginable end because the defendants failed to carry out their sacred, fiduciary, professional and contractual duties.’
In a statement to PIX11, attorneys from the law firm Morgan & Morgan said the Andrew Cleckley funeral home let these grieving families down in their ‘time of greatest need and vulnerability’.
‘The families hired these professionals to make sure that their loved ones would be laid to rest with the utmost care, dignity and respect,’ the attorneys said.
‘Instead, the remains were desecrated and abandoned, left to fester and rot. The horror to these families, who have already been through so much, is unimaginable. We will fight to hold everyone responsible for this disgrace accountable – and to make sure no other family ever has to go through something like this again.’
Andrew Cleckley admitted he was drowning under the unrelenting flow of requests and revealed: 'I ran out of space. Bodies are coming out of our ears.
Andrew Cleckley (above) admitted he was drowning under the unrelenting flow of requests and revealed: 'I ran out of space. Bodies are coming out of our ears
Andrew Cleckley (above) admitted he was drowning under the unrelenting flow of requests and revealed: 'I ran out of space. Bodies are coming out of our ears
A body sits on the street outside the Andrew Cleckley Funeral Home which piled dozens of rotting bodies in unrefrigerated trucks
A body sits on the street outside the Andrew Cleckley Funeral Home which piled dozens of rotting bodies in unrefrigerated trucks
Investigators would later find more than 50 corpses being stored in each truck as the facility struggled to keep up with the overwhelming surge of bodies due to the coronavirus outbreak
Investigators would later find more than 50 corpses being stored in each truck as the facility struggled to keep up with the overwhelming surge of bodies due to the coronavirus outbreak 
Grim scene where up to 100 bodies were left in unrefrigerated trucks
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The New York State Health Department has previously stated that all funeral directors must store decedents awaiting burial or cremation in ‘appropriate conditions and to follow their routine infection prevention and control precautions.’
Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker later revoked Andrew Cleckley’s funeral license, calling the business’ actions ‘appalling’ and ‘disrespectful to the family of the deceased, and completely unacceptable.’
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, meanwhile, called the actions 'unconscionable' and said: 'I have no idea in the world how any funeral home could let this happen.'
Cleckley told the New York Times in an interview he had been bombarded with more requests this April than he had in the whole of last year.
He told the paper 'we're jammed up' and that five other funeral homes in charge of up to 40 bodies each use his space, and so when the epidemic hit his capacity was overwhelmed.
Dozens of the decomposing bodies were later being seen transferred from the U-Haul trucks to refrigerated alternatives after cops intervened.
Grieving relative Tamisha Covington said she was charged $15,000 for her mother's body to be kept 'in a U-Haul truck for however long' following her death from a heart attack related to COVID 19, aged 60, on April 9.
Breaking down in tears she said she got 'no responses, no answers' from Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in Flatlands following the grim discovery at the beginning of May.
Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker later revoked Andrew Cleckley’s funeral license, calling the business’ actions ‘appalling’ and ‘disrespectful to the family of the deceased, and completely unacceptable'
Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker later revoked Andrew Cleckley’s funeral license, calling the business’ actions ‘appalling’ and ‘disrespectful to the family of the deceased, and completely unacceptable' 
People in Hazmat suits transport a deceased body on a stretcher outside the funeral home in Brooklyn following the outrage over the use of the U-Haul trucks
People in Hazmat suits transport a deceased body on a stretcher outside the funeral home in Brooklyn following the outrage over the use of the U-Haul trucks
Police responded to a report of human bodies in vehicles in Brooklyn on Wednesday which they determined were connected to the nearby funeral home. They discovered 100 decomposing bodies in two U-Haul truck. A freezer truck was brought in by officials who helped workers transfer the corpses which had been wrapped in body bags
Police responded to a report of human bodies in vehicles in Brooklyn on Wednesday which they determined were connected to the nearby funeral home. They discovered 100 decomposing bodies in two U-Haul truck. A freezer truck was brought in by officials who helped workers transfer the corpses which had been wrapped in body bags

Authorities found two unrefrigerated U-Haul box trucks being used to store the bodies. They found the corpses in various stages of decomposition; locals said 'you could smell the death'.
No criminal charges were brought but the home was cited for failing to control the odors.
Funeral homes across New York City – deemed the country’s epicentre of coronavirus in March - have been overwhelmed since the pandemic first took hold.
Dekalb Funeral Services and Armistead Funeral and Cremation Services were also named in some of the lawsuits filed Monday.
Coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations hit all-time lows across the state this week. On March 30, the worst day for hospitalizations, 1,693 people were admitted across the city and 400 died.
On Tuesday, 55 people were hospitalized in the city. There were 74 deaths across the entire state.