Dozens are dead and thousands have been evacuated after the most violent eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano in more than four decades.
Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, spewed a 8km-long stream of red-hot lava and shot out a thick plume of black smoke and ash on Sunday that rained down onto several regions and the capital, Guatemala City, 30km away from the hardest-hit area.
Here are the latest updates:
Tuesday June 5
- Rescue workers pulled more bodies Monday from under the dust and rubble left by an explosive eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano, bringing the death toll to at least 69, AFP news agency reported. Of them, 17 have been identified so far, said Fanuel Garcia, head of the National Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Monday June 4
- The number of fatalities from a massive volcano eruption rose to 62 on Monday. Only 13 of the dead have been identified so far, Mirna Zeledon, a spokeswoman for Guatemala’s National Institute of Forensic Sciences said.
- Among the dead were four people, including a disaster agency official, killed when lava set a house on fire in El Rodeo village in southern Guatemala, National Disaster Coordinator Sergio Cabanas said. Two children were burned to death as they watched the volcano’s second eruption this year from a bridge.
- A deadly pyroclastic flow – which can travel down a mountain at speeds of more than 100km/hr – shot from the volcano and is likely the cause of most deaths, volcanologist David Rothery told Al Jazeera.
- A hot flow of mud, ash and gas swept down from Fuego after a new blast on Monday morning that interrupted disaster workers pulling bodies from the brown sludge that engulfed El Rodeo.
- Survivor Hilda Lopez said the volcanic mud swept into her village of San Miguel Los Lotes, just below the mountain’s flanks, and she didn’t know where her mother and sister were.
- “We were at a party, celebrating the birth of a baby, when one of the neighbors shouted at us to come out and see the lava that was coming. We didn’t believe it, and when we went out the hot mud was already coming down the street. My mother was stuck there, she couldn’t get out,” said Lopez, weeping and holding her face in her hands.
- Three shelters were housing about 650 people, Marcia Martinez from the disaster relief agency told Al Jazeera.
- “There is this volcano dust everywhere… There are a lot of people here trying to recover bodies or searching for the missing,” said Al Jazeera’s David Mercer, reporting from the scene.
- Rescuers were using heavy machinery and shovels to find victims. Disaster agency chief Sergio Cabanas said helicopters rescued 10 people from areas hit by thick ash, mud or lava.
- The Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales declared a state of emergency in the states of Chimaltenango, Sacatepequez and Escuintla.
- According to volcanologist Eddy Sanchez, the volcano’s temperatures reached 700 degrees Celsius.
- Guatemala City’s international airport re-opened after it was closed by falling ash from the eruption of the volcano to the west.
- Fuego is one of Central America’s most active volcanos. It was the second eruption this year and the biggest in decades.
Translation: National Civil Police continue the search and rescue of people who have been hurt by # VolcanDeFuego in the village El Rodeo in Escuintla. So far they have rescued children and adults. – Guatemalan National Police
- Guatemalan officials say more than 3,200 people have been evacuated after the volcanic eruption.
- “We saw the lava was pouring through the corn fields and we ran towards a hill,” Consuelo Hernandez, a survivor, told Al Jazeera.
- Translation: #VolcanDeFuego Resources and humanitarian assistance are being carried out in order to help people affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano. – National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction in Guatemala
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