The number of confirmed fatalities from the Maui wildfires is at least 97 people, a lower death toll than what officials had previously announced, the Hawaii governor, Josh Green, said in an interview on CNN on Friday.
State leaders said last month that at least 115 people had died in the 8 August blaze but on Friday said new testing showed they were counting multiple DNA samples from some of the victims. John Pelltier, the Maui police chief, said in a press conference that the number of missing people had also dropped from 41 to 31. And so far, 74 of the deceased have been positively identified.
