The preliminary death toll from the Hawaii fires has been revised downwards, falling to 97 deaths, compared to 115 victims that authorities had previously announced, the American archipelago’s governor, Josh Green, said on Friday.
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“This number has decreased somewhat because the Ministry of Defense and all its forensic experts have been able to help us better identify who was in the cars or in the houses,” he explained in a video posted on social networks. “Thank God fewer people died.”
The Democrat, who was an emergency room physician before entering politics, did not provide further details to understand how bodies might have been accidentally counted.
Only 74 people have been identified so far (out of the 97 bodies found) and 31 are still missing – compared to several hundred just a few weeks ago – he added.
The search for bodies has been difficult since the fire that almost leveled the tourist town of Lahaina on Maui on August 8th.
The fire reduced thousands of buildings to piles of ash, often making the remains unrecognizable. The authorities asked the relatives of the missing people to provide a DNA sample in order to identify the victims.
The true extent of the tragedy is still unknown.
The leadership of the authorities under investigation has been widely criticized, particularly because the warning sirens intended in the event of a tsunami, volcanic eruption or fire never sounded.
Many Lahaina residents were caught in the fire at the last moment and dozens had to throw themselves into the sea to escape the flames.
Some fire hydrants also ran out of water or pressure.
Hawaii’s largest electric utility, Hawaiian Electric, is also the subject of multiple complaints accusing it of negligence for failing to shut off power despite a clear warning from the weather service.
Before the fire devastated the former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the archipelago was under fire alarm as Hurricane Dora, which hit the Pacific several hundred kilometers off the coast, caused strong winds.