Guatemala_ The number of dead as a result of the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego, whose mixture of lava and mud swept everything in its path in the San Miguel Los Lotes neighborhood in the southern department of Escuintla, Prensa Latina reports.

According to the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred), 18 people were trapped in their homes when they were hit by a current of the colossus, which had erupted the previous day in the morning hours.

Testimonies of survivors and images broadcast in the afternoon and evening by the channel TN23 showed that the tragedy occurred around 3:00 pm local time and the relief corps remained in the place until 9:00 pm, when the rescue works were temporarily suspended.

Residents fear that more people will be trapped in the rubble and volcanic material in an area affected by intense rains in the last hours.

The magnitude of the disaster forced the government to decree a State of Public Calamity in the departments of Chimaltenango, Escuintla and Sacatepéquez, following an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers.

Health authorities reported that many people with severe burns were transferred to Roosevelt and San Juan de Dios hospitals in this capital, where abundant ash and salt felt to the point of stopping operations at La Aurora International Airport.

According to the latest Conred report, 653 shelters are reported, 378 of them in Escuintla and 275 in Sacatepéquez, two of the three departments most affected by the second eruption this year and the largest.

The fury of the colossus has been felt with strong explosions and columns of ashes over six thousand meters high, as well as the largest amount of pyroclastic flows.

The tragedy keeps the country in orange alert, although it rose to red for the departments of Escuintla, Chimaltenango and Sacatepéquez in order to deal more expeditiously with the tasks of evacuation and rescue.

 

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