Hawaii [US], August 16 : The deadliest US wildfire which horrified the entire world, shows an increase in death toll to 106. According to Hawaii's governor, identifying the people killed in the Maui wildfires will be 'very difficult' and likely take weeks, reported CNN.
The families waiting to hear about their loved ones who got lost in the deadly wildfire, were asked to provide DNA swabs.
Moreover, Hawaii governor Josh Green said that a genetic team will be coming in to help identify the victims. Hundreds of searchers with cadaver dogs are stil trying to comb through the ashes of a what used to be homes and business before the dealiest wildfire destroyed it all, according to CNN.
Identifying these people are challenging because the remains are mostly unrecognizable and fingerprints are rarely being found, Green added.
Officials said that the investigators need to make DNA profiles from the remains and hopefuly find matches, including from any DNA provided by relatives of the missing, reported CNN.
“We’re asking all of our loved friends and family in the area who have any concern to go get swabbed at the family support center so that we can match people genetically,” the governor said.
According to Maui County officials, out of 106 dead, only five people have been identified as of Tuesday afternoon. However, two of them were publically named and names of the other three will be announced when their families will be notified.
Moreover, family members of missing people had provided 41 DNA samples to see whether their known ones are among the dead, county officials added.
Meanwhile, authorities say that the number of people who are still not identified is unclear, reported CNN.
As of Tuesday, authorities had gone through about a third of the search area.
The county mentioned the figures at 32 percent, whereas, the governor said it was 27 percent. "Much of it will be done” by the weekend, Green said.
However, as the search extends, authorities fear that the death toll is likely to rise.
Many of the human remains found so far had been on a seaside road, Green said. “Now that we go into the houses, we’re not sure what we’ll see. We’re hopeful and praying that it’s not large, large numbers,” he told CNN.
Jonathan Greene, deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services said that a portable morgue was also brought to the incident scene to help authorities identify and process remains with X-rays and other equipment.
Governor Green added, “When we pick up the remains … they fall apart.”The cost to rebuild Lahaina was estimated at USD 5.5bn, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with more than 2,200 structures damaged or destroyed and more than 2,100 acres (850 hectares) burned.“Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding."
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