We now have two major news outlets, one from CBS and the other from Reuters reporting on some heartbreaking information.
So far more than 100 people have perished in the Lahaina blaze and hundreds are missing. Hawaii Governor Josh Green admitted that it’s “possible” many of the victims are children who were home from school due to the blaze.
The day the inferno ripped through the historic city, students were supposed to report for their first day of school; however, due to a power outage caused by high winds, classes were canceled.
From CBS News:
Teenager Keyiro Fuentes was enjoying his last day of summer vacation hanging out at his Lahaina home when the fire swept through. His adoptive mother, Luz Vargas, was working five miles away.
She and her husband tried to get home to Fuentes as soon as they learned of the fire, but got stuck in traffic. When she got out of the car to run to the house, she faced a police barricade. Later, after running past officers, first responders told her the area had been cleared and no one was there.
When they were finally allowed to go to their house two days later, they found the body of their 14-year-old son, hugging the family’s dead dog. He was just days away from celebrating his 15th birthday.
According to a Reuters report, 400 students from the burn area have enrolled in other public schools and 200 hundred have signed up for distance learning. The four schools in the Lahaina area have over 3,000 students in attendance and only 600 have been accounted for.
So why haven’t stories like Fuentes been trickling out, Will Cain from Fox News suggests that they may be gone.
On the missing and the dead. Anecdotally everyone I have spoken to that was in Lahaina August 8th or has since done work in Lahaina has said the number of dead will be much higher. In the range of 500-1000. But… https://t.co/8AzDBRocQC
— Will Cain (@willcain) August 23, 2023
It also could be why officials are staying tight-lipped.
Maui officials are covering up the death toll.
Still claiming people are “missing” in order to hide the horrific truth.
Children burned alive. Maybe 1,000 or more.
pic.twitter.com/zAdsop2Raw https://t.co/Y8DSpgpzl7
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 21, 2023
I’ve said this many times. The truth has been know for 10 days by the residents.
When kids were not accounted for after 48 hours — didn’t go to a friend’s house, didn’t go to Auntie’s house — the families all knew. The schools closed early because of the high wind warning… https://t.co/tzuALpdjg8
— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) August 22, 2023
