About 100 names tentatively removed from missing list
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Darryl Oliveira, former head of Hawaii County Civil Defense, speaks to reporters today in Wailuku after being named interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency by Maui Mayor Richard Bissen.
COURTESY PHOTO
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen.
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UPDATE:
One hundred people or more have tentatively been taken off the 388-name list of people unaccounted for in the aftermath of the deadly Lahaina wildfire, authorities said today.
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier told a news conference this afternoon that authorities received hundreds of phone calls and emails with information about people on the list since it was released on Thursday.
“They were found safely and recorded to be safe and sound,” said Steven Merrill, special agent in charge of the FBI Honolulu Division.
The names were not made available because agents are still verifying the information, Merrill said.
“We still understand that there are hundreds more that we’re still looking for, and we will not stop until we find those people,” he said.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen also named Darryl Oliveira, former head of Hawaii County Civil Defense, to be the interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency.
Oliveira, a former chief of the Hawaii County Fire Department, succeeds Herman Andaya who resigned in the days following the Aug. 8 wildfire disaster.
Officials said 99% of the disaster area has been searched for dead bodies, and all that remains are rechecks and a search of offshore.
Maui Fire Chief Bradford Ventura 50% of the nearshore waters around Lahaina have been searched, with no bodies found.
Pelletier also said that about 99% of the affected area in Lahaina has been searched with the exception of the water and “rechecks” of areas already searched.
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Maui Mayor Richard Bissen and other county, state and federal officials are holding a press conference at 3:30 p.m. today to provide an update on wildfire disaster response efforts in Hawaii.
Speakers include Maui Police Chief John Pelletier; Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura; Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, State Incident Commander; Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill, FBI Honolulu Division; and Michelle Kauhane, Hawaii Community Foundation
Watch the livestream video above.
