The governor of Hawaii announced on Friday that the list of people missing in the fires that broke out on the island of Maui on August 10 has been significantly shortened, going from 385 to 66 names. In the first days after the fire, which is considered the worst vegetation fire in the history of the United States for more than a century, authorities estimated that there were about three thousand people missing. After weeks, however, the work of the rescuers who sifted through the ash in search of human remains, that of the investigators who cross-referenced various lists compiled by shelters and government agencies and that of the residents of Maui who contacted the authorities to let it be known that they were well they allowed us to identify a large number of people. The official death toll remains at 115 people, and has not changed for more than two weeks.
Authorities released the updated list of 66 names Friday afternoon and encouraged anyone with information about the whereabouts of the missing to contact the FBI. They have also asked immediate family members to send DNA samples: there are still 55 people whose remains have not been identified, and it is possible that they represent a large part of the remaining missing. It is rather rare for the authorities to make public the list of names of people believed to be missing: in the case of Maui, however, it proved useful to understand who had reached safety and had not communicated it and who was truly missing.