Drone footage shows the aftermath of the devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, after it swept through the city, leaving scores of people dead and thousands homeless.
The number of people on the official list of those missing from the Maui wildfire stood at 385 on Friday, nearly unchanged from a week earlier.
In a news release, the Maui Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said 245 people on the list of 388 made public the previous week were located and removed from the list. However, a nearly equal number of new names were added.
The updated total was a startling departure from what had been expected — a day earlier Gov. Josh Green said he expected the number would fall below 100.
“We think the number has dropped down into the double digits, so thank God,” Green said in a video posted to his account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
Authorities have said at least 115 people died in the fire, which tore through Lahaina in a matter of hours on Aug. 8 — the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century. So far, the names of 50 people have been publicly released and five others have been identified but their identities withheld because next of kin haven’t been reached. The rest have yet to be identified.
Initially more than 1,000 people were believed unaccounted for based on family, friends or acquaintances reporting them as missing. Officials narrowed that list down to 388 names who were credibly considered missing and released the list of names to the public last week.
New names from were added to the missing list from the Red Cross, shelters and interested parties who contacted the FBI, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said Friday.
He urged family members of the missing to submit their genetic data to help identify their relatives if they haven’t done so already.
“If you have a loved one that you know is missing and you are a family member, it’s imperative that you get a DNA sample,” Police Chief John Pelletier said in a video posted to Instagram.
___
Kelleher reported from Lahaina, Hawaii.
