Coroner: Vehicle that lost corpse near retirement

A suburban Philadelphia coroner says a transport vehicle that dropped a corpse onto a busy roadway was to have been taken out of service later this month and replaced.

Bucks County Coroner Joseph Campbell told the Bucks County Courier Times that the converted pickup was retired immediately after a door malfunctioned at about noon Friday, sending the body onto the Lower Southampton Township road.

Officials said the driver realized immediately that the door had opened and retrieved the body within minutes.

Campbell said the vehicle’s age and accumulated wear and tear were to blame for the accident, which he called “a horrible thing.”

He promised Sunday that his office would immediately put into effect new “double and triple” checks on its transport vehicles.