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Information on Filipinos in Hawaii fire a challenge: official

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Residents push a kart amid the ruins left by a wild fire that swept through the city up to the shore and port in Lahaina, Hawaii on Friday. Etienne Laurent, EPA-EFE" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/08/12/20230811-hawaii-wild-fire-aftermath-epa-1.jpg"/><figcaption>Residents push a kart amid the ruins left by a wild fire that swept through the city up to the shore and port in Lahaina, Hawaii on Friday. <em>Etienne Laurent, EPA-EFE</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Authorities are struggling to gather updated information on Filipinos in Hawaii who could have been affected by the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, an official said on Monday. </p><p>Officials say 93 people are known to have died in the disaster, but warned the figure was likely to rise as recovery crews with cadaver dogs continued the grim task of searching burned out homes and vehicles in Lahaina, a coastal town on the island of Maui.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/14/23/hawaii-fire-death-toll-nears-100-anger-grows">Hawaii fire death toll nears 100, anger grows</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Hindi pa nila ma-determine ilan ang Filipino citizens mismo ang apektado kasi hindi binibigyan ng police authorities yung mga pangalan or mga ethnicity ng mga missing o namatay. Hinihintay pa namin yung information,&quot; Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said. </p><p>(They cannot determine yet how many Filpino citizens were effected because police authorities have yet to release the names or ethnicity fo the fatalities. We are still waiting for information.)</p><p>There are around 1,800 to 2,000 Filipinos in Maui, the official noted. </p><p>&quot;Tinitingnan ng konsulado paano makatulong, paano ma-identify yung mga apektado... Hindi pa namin magawa kasi yung Maui authorities, they’re still cleaning up,&quot; De Vega told TeleRadyo Serbisyo. </p><p>&quot;At saka sabi nila bumabalik na sa normal, pero wala pang kuryente, wala pa masyadong internet sa areas kaya may mga taong hindi pa makapag-contact sa kanilang mga kaanak. Right now, wala pa tayong talagang updated info to assist those who need it.&quot; </p><p>(The consulate is looking at how to help identify those who were affected. We cannot do it yet because Maui authorities said they were still cleaning up. They said things are returning to normal, but there are still areas without electricity or internet, so people cannot contact their relatives yet. Right now, we have no updated info to assist those who need it.)</p><p>Filipinos who lost contact with their relatives in Hawaii could report to the Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OFWHelpPH">OFW Help</a> or emergency hotline +1 808 253 9446, De Vega said. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A handout photo made available by Carter Barto shows an arial view of buildings damaged in Lahaina, Hawaii as a result of a large wildfire on the island of Maui in Hawaii, USA on Thursday. Carter Barto, EPA-EFE/handout" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/08/10/20230809-hawaii-wildfire-epa11644568-s.jpg"/><figcaption>A handout photo made available by Carter Barto shows an arial view of buildings damaged in Lahaina, Hawaii as a result of a large wildfire on the island of Maui in Hawaii, USA on Thursday. <em>Carter Barto, EPA-EFE/handout</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>More than 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, according to official estimates, wreaking $5.5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless.</p><p>&quot;The remains we&#x27;re finding are from a fire that melted metal,&quot; said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. &quot;When we pick up the remains... they fall apart.&quot;</p><p>That was making identification difficult, he added, appealing for those with missing relatives to give DNA samples that might speed the process.</p><p>Pelletier said cadaver dogs still had a vast area to search in the hunt for what could still be hundreds of people unaccounted for.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re going as fast as we can. But just so you know, three percent -- that&#x27;s what&#x27;s been searched with the dogs,&quot; he said. </p><p>The wildfire is the deadliest in the United States since 1918, when 453 people died in Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the nonprofit research group the National Fire Protection Association.</p><p>The death toll surpassed 2018&#x27;s Camp Fire in California, which virtually wiped the small town of Paradise off the map and killed 86 people.</p><p>Questions are being asked over how prepared authorities were for the catastrophe, despite the islands&#x27; exposure to natural hazards like tsunamis, earthquakes and violent storms. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/11/23/like-a-warzone-hawaiis-fleeing-tourists-tell-of-escape">Like a warzone: Hawaii&#x27;s fleeing tourists tell of escape</a></li></ul><p>— With a report from Agence France-Presse <br/> </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aTN-YYm5lCs?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mxdqu23L0PE?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Authorities are struggling to gather updated information on Filipinos who could have been affected by the deadly wildfire in Hawaii. 