Horror drone footage shows historic town of Lahaina burned to ground after devastating wildfires

Chilling drone footage captured over the weekend showed what was left of Lahaina, the historic town that was incinerated when wildfires ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui.

All that was left of the razed neighbourhoods were smouldering ruins as some residents returned to survey the destruction.

The death toll from the Maui wildfires has risen to 106, Hawaii Governor Josh Green confirmed, but the number is expected to increase as searchers continue to look for at least 1,000 people who are still missing.

The grim figure makes the tragedy the deadliest wildfire in the US since 1918 and officials have said the true scale of casualties remains unclear.

The fire was about 85 per cent contained earlier this week, after burning an estimated 2,170 acres, according to the County of Maui.

Specialist search dogs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Urban Search and Rescue teams have now joined the harrowing searches for victims.

The dogs and their handlers have taken on the distressing job of searching through the ruins to identify human remains.

Mr Green is asking those with missing family members in Maui to submit a DNA test to help identify the victims.

Just five of the 106 victims that have been found thus far have been identified. Due to the severe burns that many people faced during the deadly wildfires, many of the remains are unrecognisable.

“We’re asking all of our loved friends and family in the area who have any concern to go get swabbed at the family support center so that we can match people genetically,” Mr Green said on The Source with CNN’s Kaitlin Collins.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit Maui on Monday 21 August to meet with first responders, survivors and officials – nearly two weeks after devastating wildfires ravaged parts of the island.

Mr Biden declared the crisis a major disaster shortly after the wildfires broke out, and has sent military and federal aid to the islands. Despite this, some condemned the president for failing to schedule a visit to Hawaii and vacationing over the weekend.