Meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris, Jokowi Expresses Condolences over the Fire in Hawaii's Maui Island

Screenshots/President Joko Widodo and US Vice President Kamala Harris shortly before holding a bilateral meeting at the Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, Wednesday (6/9/2023).

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo expressed his condolences for the forest fires that occurred on the island of Maui, Hawaii, United States to US Vice President Kamala Harris.

"First, I would like to express my condolences for the forest fire disaster that occurred in Maui, Hawaii," said President Widodo in his introduction to the bilateral meeting with Kamala Harris on the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN Summit at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, September 6 .

Jokowi expressed his hope that the victims who disappeared in the disaster that occurred on August 8 2023 can be found quickly and that the affected families can recover quickly.

Previously reported until September 3 2023, the number of people missing in forest fires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, United States, has decreased to 385 people from the number released on August 24 of 388 in the first list of missing people.

According to the Maui Police Department and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Friday (1/9), the fire has killed at least 115 people.

Authorities say more than 3,000 people have been found safe, previously reported missing, and their names have been made public.

The catastrophic forest fires on Maui Island began on August 8 and spread throughout the seaside town of Lahaina on Maui.

The wildfires were one of the worst natural disasters in Hawaii's history and the deadliest wildfires in the US in more than a century.