Coroner's Chilling Description of Pulse Brings You Where 'Time Stood Still'

The medical examiner describes visiting the nightclub as part of his job identifying the 49 victims.

Drinks that were just served, bills that were about to be paid, and half-eaten food were the personal belongings Joshua D. Stephany, the chief medical examiner in Orlando, saw when he entered the doors of Pulse to oversee the autopsy process Sunday.

"The scene itself was almost like everything stood still, like time just stopped, and that's not even thinking about the bodies and the blood," Stephany said in a video posted by The New York Times.

He described the "sheer number and spread" of the victims in the club as "almost surreal."

Strobe lights were still going off, TV's in the backroom were turned on, and lights were blinking, the examiner said as he described the scene he entered Sunday morning.

In the midst of an awful tragedy, the coroner had a few words of comfort for the grieving. "I didn't re-create the scene," he said. "I can't tell you who was shot first, how many were alive for that many hours."

Watch the full interview with the medical examiner below.