Up to 1,000 People Missing on Hawaii’s Maui Island as Fires Continue to Blaze

Law enforcement recovery teams “honestly don’t know” the exact number of people who have died.

The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 8, 2023. Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP

As many as 1,000 people are still missing on Hawaii’s Maui Island amid the ongoing wildfires and can’t be contacted, officials said on Aug. 10.

So far, 55 deaths have been confirmed owing to the fast-spreading wildfires which have scorched through large swathes of land, according to a Maui County news release published Thursday.