One of Central America’s most active volcanoes has erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock, killing at least 25 people and injuring many more.
Guatemala’s Volcan de Fuego, Spanish for ‘volcano of fire,’ exploded shortly before noon local time and hours later lava began flowing down the side of the mountain. Woman shot husband dead because he had been beating their cat Eddy Sanchez, director of the country’s seismology and volcanology institute, said the flows reached temperatures of about 700C (1,300F) Three bodies lay partially buried in ash-colored debris from the volcano, which lies about 27 miles from Guatemala City. ‘Not everyone was able to get out. I think they ended up buried,’ Consuelo Hernandez, a resident of the village of El Rodeo, told the newspaper Diario de Centroamerica. Woman loses entire family to Guatemala’s Fuego eruption
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‘Where we saw the lava fall, we ran to a hillside’ to escape, she added. Hundreds of rescue workers, including firefighters, police and soldiers worked to recover bodies from the still-smoking lava. Stunning footage shows 1,500 dolphins playing with baby humpback whale National disaster coordinator Sergio Cabanas said seven people were confirmed dead and an unknown number were unaccounted for before the figure was later revised. Among the fatalities were four people, including a disaster agency official, killed when lava set a house on fire in El Rodeo village, Mr Cabanas said. Two children were burned to death as they watched the volcano’s second eruption this year from a bridge, he added. Another victim was found in the streets of El Rodeo by volunteer firefighters, but the person died in an ambulance.
Guatemala’s disaster agency said 3,100 people had evacuated nearby communities, and ash fall from the eruption was affecting an area with a population of about 1.7 million of the country’s 15 million or so people. Shelters were opened for those forced to flee. West Ham’s new manager and his wife held at gunpoint in Chile Ash was falling on the Guatemala City area as well as the departments of Sacatepequez, Chimaltenango and Escuintla, which are in south-central Guatemala around the volcano. Streets and houses were covered in the colonial town of Antigua, a popular tourist destination. Aviation authorities closed the capital’s international airport because of the danger posed to planes by the ash. The conical Volcan de Fuego reaches an altitude of 12,346 feet (3,763 meters) above sea level at its peak.
pite its relative proximity to the deadly volcano and ash covering cars, roads and buildings, life appeared to be continuing as normal in Antigua. ‘In the town ash came down for about two hours mid-morning and shortly in the afternoon and it sort of mixed in the rain,’ he said. ‘Everyone is really calm, there’s a business that is still open. It doesn’t feel unsafe in any way.’ The Foreign Office advised Britons travelling to and from Guatemala to check with their airlines after La Aurora International Airport closed until at least 2pm (8pm BST) on Monday.
METRO
