U.S. Postal Service Apologizes After NY Residents Receive Bloody Mail

OLEAN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The U.S. Postal Service has apologized after residents along an upstate New York mail route complained about receiving blood-stained mail.

A Postal Service spokeswoman for the agency's western New York district told the Olean Times Herald that the blood was from a mail carrier who suffered a cut finger after a vehicle accident with a truck on Tuesday.

The official said the carrier's vehicle was sideswiped, damaging the side mirror. The worker cut his finger when he tried to adjust the mirror.

The official says the carrier believed the bleeding had stopped and wasn't aware blood was smudging the mail he was dropping off along a delivery route near the city of Olean, 60 miles south of Buffalo.

The mail carrier wasn't immediately identified. A Postal Service spokesperson said the mail carrier had "no indication" of blood-transferable illness, according to the Times Herald.

The Postal Service official apologized to customers who received mail smeared with blood.

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