Iran Press/ America: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says the list of those who remain unaccounted for following the Lahaina wildfire stands at about 1,100, two weeks after flames tore through the town, and the county will soon release the names of the missing in hopes of finding some alive.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen acknowledged the task of tracking down the unaccounted for is daunting — and increasingly desperate for family members.
He added that information provided to authorities has been incomplete. Some of those unaccounted for are listed with first names only. Others have no identifying details, such as gender or age. The list also includes no identified minors even though children are among the victims.
Given that, Bissen said, authorities don’t yet have a projection of the final death toll.
By far, all single-storey residential properties had been searched in the disaster area. Search teams will now start to search multi-storey residential and commercial properties, according to the county.
The county has issued unsafe water alerts in Lahaina and Upper Kula, requesting residents to only use bottled water or potable water provided by tankers for drinking, brushing teeth, ice-making, food preparation and so on.
Moreover, the U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Maui on Monday to assess the damage of the wildfire disaster area in Lahaina and meet with survivors and first responders who were impacted by the fires.
The wildfires in Maui are the deadliest wildfires in the United States in more than a century, and the worst natural disaster in Hawaii's history.
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