Police in Hawaii have revised the number of deaths from last month's wildfire disaster on Maui Island to 97, down from their previous toll of 115.

Officials said on Friday DNA testing showed that some of the severely damaged remains belonged to the same individuals. They said 74 of the 97 victims have been identified.

Maui police chief John Pelletier said 31 people remain unaccounted for. He said authorities were able to account for 99 percent of the initial list of 3,200 missing individuals.

The wildfire that started in early August devastated the town of Lahaina.

Pelletier said reports that hundreds of bodies have washed ashore are false rumors. He attributed them to "folks that believe that the Earth is flat and the Holocaust didn't happen."

The police chief urged people not to believe in disinformation spreading through social media.