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AT LEAST 1,100 people are still missing two weeks after deadly wildfires ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui, with the FBI seeking family members’ help in identifying the remains of the dead.
The fires were the deadliest to hit the United States in a century, claiming at least 115 lives, according to the latest provisional death toll.
The tourist town of Lahaina, home to 12,000 people, was all but wiped off the map, with thousands of missing persons appearing on lists maintained by various organizations, including the police, Red Cross and shelters.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is now working to collate and verify the data, Special Agent Steven Merrill told reporters on Tuesday.
“We’re cross-referencing all the lists so that we can determine who in fact truly is still unaccounted for,” Merrill said.
As of yesterday, the FBI had counted 1,100 missing persons, he added, with the number likely to rise.
The FBI has set up a dedicated telephone hotline and has encouraged relatives of the missing to contact them.
“We really need the public’s help”, said Merrill, particularly in terms of getting additional information to verify details for some of the missing.
Maui police chief John Pelletier said authorities were refining the data and were hoping to publish a verified list of missing persons “in the next few days”.
FBI agents have also been collecting DNA samples from the families of the missing who are unable to travel to Maui, wherever in the world they may be.
Identifying the unrecognizable bodies found in the ashes of Lahaina is a laborious task.
So far, only 27 of the 115 victims have been identified.
Having the DNA of the families of the missing “is a critical step in order to make an identification” of the victims, said Julie French, vice president of ANDE, the company in charge of these operations.
“Nearly three-quarters of remains that have been tested for DNA thus far have generated searchable DNA results,” she said.
But without DNA from relatives against which to compare this data, the process is futile.
Only 104 DNA samples from family members of the missing or dead have been collected so far, and the authorities were keen to dispel any distrust of the process.
“The DNA profiles are not being retained by the FBI” or the police, said Maui County District Attorney Andrew Martin.
“The only purpose for which it will be used is helping identify the unaccounted for.”
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That last line says a lot…Even in such a catastrophic event like this, people distrust handing over their DNA to the feds.
@David: They are correct to distrust.
@David: As we all know, there are those with the inclination to bully, and intimidate. There are also psychopaths and sociopaths and others that have a need to harm.
Such people are attracted to positions where they can satiate their need to control others.
One of those is policing.
And police tribes look after their own.
Lighting fires has nothing to do with climate change
Global warming in full effect ( with matches )
@Niamh Cowley: The fires were started by downed overlines, blown down by Hurricane Dora that passed south of the Island. There was also a 3 year drought, west Maui was suffering a severe drought, and there were also invasive grasses from Africa that made the fire risk worse.
Downed power lines: https://youtu.be/i8v0VsCysEE
Though if you know the fires were started deliberately, you should tell the Maui police. You seem to have info no one else has.
There will be 1200+ dead here.
@Alan B: Joe Biden never extorted much from Hawaii hence he only showed up weeks afterwards to have a crack with a cadaver dog. No wonder the locals booed him. What’s 1200 US civilians deaths burnt alive in their homes; had they been Ukrainian he could’ve used it as a ruse to send more billions.
@Jimmy Wallace: The Whitehouse used that excuse but it wouldn’t have stopped him visiting the unaffected part. Oprah Winfrey wasn’t told to get lost trying to help. Looks like he couldn’t be arsed.
Unfortunately governments are pretty ineffective.
Historically the only things governments have managed to do well are imprisoning & murdering people.
They are not very good at redistributing wealth, providing healthcare, maintaining infrastructure etc.
This was a disaster caused by poor infrastructure maintenance & a diabolical response to a crisis.
And its all the fault of the local government for neglect. The alarms could have been raised. The water could have been left on.
Why is the Union Jack on the flag. Isnt the Hawaii Islands an American State?
@Bat Collins: it is an American state. It wasn’t one when the British briefly used it as a colony just before the beginning of the American war of independence. Even when the British left it when the war began they still kept advisories to help the island monarchy and they continued to offer the island the full protection of the British empire.
have your say