As the death toll passes 100 after Maui wildfires the process begins to identify the victims

By ITV News US Producer Will Tullis, reporting from Maui with Correspondent Peter Smith and Camera Operator Mark Davey

A week after wildfires raged through Maui, a grim new milestone has been reached.

At least 106 people perished in the flames on the Hawaiian island, the US state's governor, Josh Green confirmed on Tuesday (July 16).

Walking through what little remains of Lahaina - the area most devastated by the fires - it's easy to see why the death toll is expected to rise further still.

We walked through whole communities reduced to nothing more than ash. We accompanied one family returning to their Lahaina home for the first time. 

"This was our bedroom and that was the kitchen", the Mariano family tell us, pointing at little more than a mound of charred rubble - a stark reflection of the strength of a fire so mercilessly hot, it melted metal.

The flames spared little in their path. DNA experts have now arrived in Maui to help with the painstaking process of identifying human remains rendered beyond unrecognisable.

Teams that have been working in Ukraine, using DNA in war crimes investigations, are now working with officials on the island, trying to gather enough DNA from burn sites to identify victims.

DNA samples for 13 victims have been taken. Samples from the family members of 41 missing people have also been taken.

In Kahului, a community centre now acts as a space where family members of the missing come in desperate search of information on their loved ones. DNA samples are also taken from them here.

For Sally Gomes, it's a quest for closure.

Sally escaped Lahaina as smoke flames engulfed Hawaii's former capital, tearing through her home.

"I came to do a DNA swab for my mum", she said. 

Sally saw a widely shared social media video that showed a woman's lifeless body on the floor, as those filming the video escaped Lahaina by car. 

Sally Gomes saw her mother lying unconscious at the side of the road in a video that was posted to social media

"I know deep in my heart that was my mum laying on the floor [in the video]", she told us.

Anita Ahuja is a victim support specialist, who worked identifying the dead with DNA samples in New York, following the attacks of September 11 2001.

Her experience is now being used in Maui.

"We have to be prepared for the sad outcomes of not having an actual body to have returned to us but some other type of remains", Anita told ITV News.

DNA expert Anita Ahuja helped identify victims after the 9/11 attacks in New York. She said families in Maui should 'be prepared for the sad outcomes of not having an actual body to have returned'.

Questions have been raised over how the fires came to cause so much devastation.

Why did no warning sirens sound? Why did no one receive emergency alerts on their phone?

Why weren't more preventative measures put in place after wildfires in 2018?

In Kula, citizens are acting where - as many on the island think - the state isn't.

Teams of residents and volunteers here determinedly dig out firebreaks - gaps in the land that can slow the spread of fires. They cut down charred trees, and remove anything flammable.

While the worst of the flames have subsided, fires continue to smoulder underground. The Kula locals clear vegetation to give them the best possible chance of ensuring this doesn't happen again.

Helicopters whirr overhead, taking water from swimming pools and pouring it on smouldering land.

Walking through Kula, we see a wooden house - inexplicably still standing and seemingly untouched, surrounded by burnt out trees.

For Craig Damon, it's beyond miraculous that his home didn't fall victim to the most deadly wildfires in over 100 years in the US.

"I prayed...I'm not religious but when I saw the fire I prayed...I can't believe [the house] is still here," he told us.

For Craig, complacency isn't an option. He has been watering the ground around his home and taking away flammable materials.

"There's still fire burning, it's burning underground...it's so dry here, we haven't had any rain," he said.

1300 people remain unaccounted for in Maui. The governor has already said rescue teams expect to find "10 to 20" more victims a day.

Though the very worst of the flames has subsidied, Maui has been scarred by these wildfires. Grief looks set to make way for anger and a demand for answers in the weeks and months ahead.

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