Maui wildfire survivor tells of ‘dead bodies floating in the water’
A Maui wildlife survivor has told how there are still “dead bodies in the water floating” following the devastating blazes that have killed at least 67 people.
Hawaiian residents are bracing for the death toll to climb higher with around 1,000 people still missing in the apocalyptic wildfires.
Kekoa Lansford told the BBC that his hometown of Lahaina, which was at the centre of the wildfires and saw 1,000 structures burn down, would take “years to fix” after the disaster.
“This is not even the worst of it,” he told the broadcaster from the ruins of Lahaina. “(We) still get dead bodies in the water floating, and on the seawall.”
Officials evacuated 14,5000 from the island on Thursday, with an estimated 2,000 residents sleeping rough after the fires.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green told reporters on Thursday that hundreds of people remained unaccounted for.
Those unaccounted for are not presumed dead, he said, but have been left without communications and so their safety is unclear.
“Here’s the challenge: there’s no power, no internet, no phone, no radio. You compound some of that. So when we’re speaking to our officers, we need them to get a sat phone,” he said.
“There’s around 1,000 missing. It doesn’t mean that many have passed - I’m not saying that at all - but because we can’t contact them we can’t know.”
The fire started on Tuesday, fuelled by strong winds and unusually dry summer conditions on Maui that left many residents and visitors in Lahaina with little time to take precautions to keep themselves and their loved ones and neighbours safe.
Some people fled the town with few possessions, while others dived into the water to escape.
Search and rescue teams with cadaver dogs are being sent from California and Washington to help in the recovery efforts, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
