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\"PHOTO:
Ramon Espinosa/AP
PHOTO: Efrain Diaz Figueroa, right, walks by his sister's home destroyed in the passing of Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 9, 2017.
>

The government’s official death toll count has faced scrutiny following the storm. The Department of Public Safety, which is the agency keeping track of the count, said in late October that there had been more than 900 cremations in Puerto Rico following the storm, but they were not counted as a part of the storm-related death toll because those cremated were designated to have died due to natural causes.

\"PHOTO:
Mario Tama/Getty Images
PHOTO: Residents gather to receive food and water from FEMA in a neighborhood without grid electricity or running water on Oct. 17, 2017 in San Isidro, Puerto Rico.
>

Hector Pesquera, the secretary of the Department of Public Safety, said in a statement, \"As I have mentioned on previous occasions, any citizen who understands that a death is directly or indirectly related to Hurricane Maria can present the case to our consideration in order to proceed with the relevant investigations.\"

The Department of Public Safety previously said that any increase in the number of deaths listed as related to Hurricane Maria would happen only if a body was sent to San Juan to be examined by a medical examiner or if a medical examiner went to a town to review a body.

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