Mobile Morgue Unit Arrives in Maui as Search for Wildfire Victims Drags On

A mobile morgue unit arrived Tuesday in Hawaii as officials continued the painstaking work of scouring neighborhoods reduced to ash to recover and identify the remains of people killed in the fast-moving wildfires that tore through Maui. 

Along with the morgue, the US Department of Health and Human Services sent a team of coroners, pathologists and technicians, as well as X-ray units and other equipment to assist in identifying and processing the remains, Jonathan Greene, the agency's deputy assistant secretary of response, said, according to the Associated Press. 

"It’s going to be a very, very difficult mission,” Greene said. “And patience will be incredibly important because of the number of victims.”

At least 106 people died in the inferno that tore through the island last week and devastated the historic city of Lahaina — making it the country's deadliest natural disaster in the past century.

Thousands more are missing. 

But a week after the fires, survivors and officials continued to struggle with intermittent power and sporadic cell phone service that is hampering communications. 

Small planes outfitted with loudspeakers flew over overhead to announce where to get water and supplies.

Cadaver dogs are assisting teams as they search for remains, so far covering about 30% of the area burned. 

Gov. Josh Green said there are 20 dogs working with 185 rescuers in the "impact zone" combing through each building and house. 

“Many of the fatalities were on the road, down by the sea,” Green told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. “So the numbers will increase, but they will not increase — we hope — to ... catastrophic proportions. We just don’t know yet.”