Revealed: 300% surge in deaths of unhoused people in LA amid fentanyl and housing crises

More than 2,000 people died in 2023, with a decade of autopsy data uncovering escalating humanitarian catastrophe

More than 2,000 unhoused people died in Los Angeles in 2023, meaning an average of nearly six deaths a day of people living on the street or in shelters in the nation's most populous county.

The numbers reveal an escalating humanitarian emergency as the housing crisis and drug addiction epidemic collide, with victims found in tents, encampments, vehicles, parks, alleys, vacant lots, underpasses, bus stops and train stations.