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Autopsies begin on two found inside ship

Autopsies begin on bodies in ship's cargo hold

By Times Staff
Published April 13, 2005

TAMPA - Investigators still aren't sure of the nationalities of two people whose decomposing bodies were removed from the hold of a cargo ship at the Port of Tampa on Monday, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating the incident as a case of human smuggling.

"Investigators are having a difficult time even identifying the nationalities of the bodies because they were in that little space for so long," Immigration and Customs spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said Tuesday. "But they are examining the bodies as we speak."

Dick Bailey, office manager for the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office, said the autopsies would begin Tuesday afternoon and continue through today. He said both victims appear to be men, but that will have to be confirmed through the autopsies.

The two found inside the belly of the Ocean Belle might have been dead for as long as two weeks, according to the medical examiner's office. They were removed Monday afternoon, several hours after the freighter ship docked at the port at 3701 Causeway Blvd.

Tampa Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Bill Wade said Ocean Belle crew members detected a nauseating smell Thursday, a day after the Panamanian ship left the Dominican Republic for Tampa, where it was scheduled for repairs.

After being called to the ship Monday morning, a fire rescue hazardous materials crew wore protective suits and masks as they tried to remove the bodies, which released toxic gases as they decomposed in the sweltering ship hold 20 feet below deck. It took fire rescue workers eight hours to remove the bodies.

[Last modified April 13, 2005, 01:29:17]