14 Filipinos confirmed dead in Maui wild fire, many still missing
WILDFIRES IN MAUI razed houses and commercial buildings
HONOLULU – Fourteen Filipinos and Filipino-Americans have been confirmed to have died in the wildfire in Maui, Hawaii and the number may still rise as more Filipinos and FilAms are still missing.
It was reported that the Filipinos compose the second largest ethnic group in Maui, with nearly 48,000 residents tracing their roots to the Philippines, 5,000 of them in Lahaina, which was badly destroyed by the wildfire. Overall, 25 percent of Hawaii’s 1.4 million population are of Filipino descent.
This as Hawaii Consul General Emil Fernandez said another Filipino, 48-year-old Glenda Yabes from Ilocos province, has been added to the list, GMA’s Dave Llavanes stated in a report.
The report added seven other members of the Yabes household are still missing, namely: Angelic Baclig, Joel and Adela Villegas, Junmark and Felimon Quijano, Lydia Coloma, and Luz Bernabe.
The other Filipino fatalities identified by the consulate based on their records are: Rogelio Mabalot, 68, Salvador Coloma, 77, and Rodulfo Rocutan, 76, all of whom are from Ilocos.
Ten Filipino-Americans are among the 55 fatalities that have been identified by authorities, these are: Conchita, 74, and Danilo Sagudang, 55, Narciso, 67, and Vanessa Baylosis, 67, Carlo Tobias, 54, Joseph Lara, 86, Buddy Jantoc, Alfredo Galinato, 79, Pablo Pagdilao, 75, who is allegedly related to the Pagdilao family in Pinili, Ilocos Norte, and 50-year-old Eugene Recolizado originally from San Juan, Metro Manila.
Recolizado’s wife, Victoria, and their child, Justine, are still missing.
While the search and recovery operation is nearing completion, many individuals remain unaccounted for.
