Wildfires death toll rises

AS THE death toll from the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui reached 93, making it the deadliest US wildfire for over a century, authorities warned that the effort to find and identify the dead is still in its early stages.

Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.

"We've got an area that we have to contain that is at least five square miles and it is full of our loved ones," he said, noting that the death toll is likely to grow and "none of us really know the size of it yet"