Search teams combing through the last unchecked buildings in Lahaina have not found the mass casualties many feared, Hawaii’s governor said Thursday, offering a rare positive note in the wake of his state’s deadliest natural disaster.
(Bloomberg) — Search teams combing through the last unchecked buildings in Lahaina have not found the mass casualties many feared, Hawaii’s governor said Thursday, offering a rare positive note in the wake of his state’s deadliest natural disaster.
The death toll from the fire that swept through seaside Lahaina Aug. 8 remains at 115, with just 5% of the burned area left to search. In a daily update on his Facebook page, Governor Josh Green said the number is holding steady even as searchers scour multistory buildings.
“Our tragedy remains, but they’re going through the complex buildings now, and in the last day or two, they have not found mass fatalities,” he said.
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Green also said the number of people unaccounted for, which stood at 1,054 Wednesday, would drop substantially as the Federal Bureau of Investigation removes duplicate names from a list compiled by multiple agencies.
“You’ll see this number drop significantly — way down — and that’s a good thing,” Green said.
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