6 Filipinos have been confirmed dead in Maui wildfire --- By DAVE LLAVANES JR.

NEW YORK - Two more Filipinos have been included in the list of identified bodies recovered from the Maui wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii bringing the number of confirmed Filipino fatalities to six. Maui County has officially confirmed the identities of Salvador Coloma, 77, originally from Ilocos, and Carlo Tobias, 54, among the six names that have been publicly disclosed by authorities. Carlo's daughter, Rachel Tobias, confirmed on her Facebook account that the DNA sample that they provided matched with the body of her father that was recovered from their home. "Hello family and friends, we have finally got the results from Liza’s DNA test to reconfirm our concerns about the remains found at our family home. We are relieved but also broken that now we have to start the grieving process," said Rachel. Salvador Coloma is part of the group of nine families reported missing, a situation first covered by GMA Integrated News last week. Authorities are still searching for eight members of Salvador Coloma's family, including his spouse, Lydia Coloma, and relatives Joel Villegas, Adela Villegas, Junmark Quijano, Felimon Quijano, Luz Bernabe, and Glenda Yabes. Authorities in Maui have updated the count of missing individuals to more than 1,100 people. At present there are six Filipinos and Filipino-Americans identified among the fatalities in the catastrophic wildfire in Maui, these are: Salvador Coloma, 77 Carlo Tobias, 54 Rodolfo Rocutan, 76 Conchita Sagudang, 75 Danilo Sagudang, 55 Alfredo Galinato, 79 Reuters reported that at least 1,100 people are still missing two weeks after the deadly wildfires ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui. The FBI is seeking family members' help in identifying the remains of the dead. The fires were the deadliest to hit the United States in a century, claiming at least 115 lives, according to the latest provisional death toll. — BAP, GMA Integrated News

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