No Korean casualties reported so far in Maui after wildfires

In an aerial view, homes and businesses are seen that were destroyed by a wildfire on Friday in Lahaina, Hawaii. [AFP/YONHAP]

The Korean government said it has received no reports of Korean casualties from the wildfires on Maui, Hawaii, as of Sunday, but admitted communications on the ground were glitchy due to outages.

“There have been no Korean casualties reported as of 10 a.m. Sunday,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement. "We've had some difficulty confirming the exact state of the Korean community in Maui due to communication outages since the fire."

The ministry said at least 500 Koreans live on Maui, with hundreds more visiting the island when the first blaze broke out last week. The wildfires had killed at least 89 and left hundreds missing as of Saturday.

The Foreign Ministry said it received missing reports for 26 Koreans in the island. All of them were accounted for by the ministry by Sunday morning.

The fires, the cause of which have yet to be determined, began Tuesday, blazing through the island and killing at least 89 by Saturday, and burning at least 1,000 homes in the historic town of Lahaina. Over 1,000 were reported missing as of Saturday.

Firefighters had brought the wildfires under control over the weekend, according to local officials.

The death toll is expected to climb further as authorities begin searching burned-out homes and other buildings.

According to locals on Maui, at least four homes and 12 offices owned by Koreans had been burned as of Sunday.

At least 11 Korean nationals lost their passports in the fires and were issued emergency temporary passports by the ministry as of Saturday.

The consul general of Korea to Honolulu, Lee Seo-young, visited Maui on Saturday to meet with officials and local residents.

The wildfires were one of the deadliest to hit Hawaii and the worst in the United States since the 2018 Camp Fire in California that killed 85 people.

Experts blame the fire's devastation on a severe drought affecting the region in recent weeks, bringing with it extremely hot, dry conditions. Hurricane Dora's strong winds fanned the fire as well, accelerating its spread.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]