Maui fire victims being identified slowly, President Joe Biden yet to visit

He played bass guitar along with greats like Carlos Santana and George Benson in his heydays. But 79-year Buddy Jantoc has been identified as one of the 106 Maui fire victims. The officials released the first names one week after the devastating fire.

The officials have announced just two names- Buddy Jantoc and Robert Dykman. They have also identified three other people, but their names have not been released as their families are being notified.

After the catastrophic fire gutted the historic town of Lahaina within hours, the victims are being searched.


The authorities have taken the help of 20 specially trained sniffer dogs in a slow and grueling search operation. They advance slowly as the entire area is filled with twisted metals, a mess of wires, and other types of debris.

Identifying the victims is particularly slow and difficult considering the extent of burns and the DNA test required for the identification. The authorities are contacting the relatives of the victims and taking DNA samples for the test.

If media reports are to be believed, general people and the kin of the victims are angry and upset as President Joe Biden has not yet visited the area.

But the president has said that he had avoided the visit so that the attention and resources are not diverted from the humanitarian work being carried out there.
Governor Jush Green has said that the death toll may go up significantly in the next ten days.

Meanwhile, The Maui Emergency Management Agency has said that it will cost $5.5 billion to rebuild the infrastructure and other properties that have been destroyed in the fire.

Federal Emergency Management Agency is giving $500 as monetary help to the victims, but the people have said that it is too little and so insignificant that it will not provide them any real help. However, some non-government organizations and other groups have come out to help the people with supplies like water, ice, food, clothing, tents, etc.

FAQs:

Q1:How many Maui fire victims have been identified so far?
The authorities have released the names of only two Maui fire victims so far, though 106 deaths have been confirmed. The process is slow due to the extent of burns and the DNA test required.

Q2:Why has President Joe Biden not visited Maui?
President Joe Biden has said that he has not visited the fire-ravaged Maui area so that the attention and resources are not diverted.