Death toll from Hawaii wildfires revised down from 115 to 97

The official death toll from wildfires in the U.S. state of Hawaii's Maui has been revised down from 115 to 97, local media reported Friday, citing authorities.

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier announced the drop in the death toll in a news conference on Friday afternoon, reported Hawaii News Now, a major local news outlet in the state.

Authorities adjusted the number of deaths "amid a painstaking effort to catalog remains, many of which are incomplete and in a very degraded state," said the report.

The number of deaths decreased after DNA analysis of the remains recovered consolidated some cases, it said, citing officials.