About 62 dead during Guatemala volcano eruption
EL RODEO, Guatemala –The charred landscape left behind by Guatemala’s erupting Volcano of Fire was still too hot in many places Monday to pull out bodies so thickly coated with ash that they looked like statues as the death toll rose to 62 and was expected to go higher.
That’s exactly what happened to dozens of Guatemalans on Sunday, when the nation’s infamous “volcano of fire” roared back to life, belching out a deadly mix of ash and lava that killed at least 62 people, 13 identified.
Villages on the slopes of Fuego volcano were buried in volcanic ash, mud and rocks as the volcano erupted for 16 and a half hours on Sunday.
Pyroclastic flows, which are fast-moving mixtures of very hot gas and volcanic matter, rushed down the mountainside and engulfed villages.
President Jimmy Morales has declared three days of national mourning.
Searing flows of ash mixed with water and debris gushed down the volcano’s flanks, blocking roads and burning homes.
