US wildfires: 53 people killed, thousands displaced

ATLANTA (Pajhwok): At least 53 people have been killed, thousands displaced as a result of wildfires in the US town Lahaina, according to a media report on Friday.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green said the destruction caused by Maui’s wildfires was the worst natural disaster in the state's history, turning thousands of people homeless and leveling as many as 1,000 buildings. "It's going to take many years to rebuild Lahaina," Green said told a news conference, as officials began to map out a plan to shelter the newly homeless in hotels and tourist rental properties.

"It will be a new Lahaina that Maui builds in its own image with its own values," Green said of the city that draws 2 million tourists each year, or about 80% of the island's visitors.

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