ZCZC
BFF-29
GUATEMALA-VOLCANO
Nearly 200 missing after Guatemala volcano eruption
GUATEMALA CITY, June 5, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – A total of 192 people remained
missing as of Tuesday due to the eruption of Fuego volcano in Guatemala,
according to government authorities.
Sergio Cabanas, executive secretary of the National Coordination for
Disaster Reduction of Guatemala (CONRED), updated the information in a press
conference.
CONRED said on Twitter that by 1:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT), the death
toll from the volcano eruption reached 70, as rescuers recovered more bodies
buried by ashes and mud that were swept into rivers.
CONRED also said the number of injuries remains at 46, while 1.7 million
people have been affected. At least 3,271 people have been displaced and
2,625 relocated to temporary shelters.
The eruption has destroyed a bridge and affected two electricity grids and
La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, which resumed operation on
Monday.
Fuego volcano exploded around noon on Sunday and lava began flowing down
in the afternoon.
According to CONRED, the eruption is “the strongest one recorded in recent
years.”
A state of disaster has been declared for the southern departments of
Escuintla, Sacatepequez and Chimaltenango, which suffered the most in the
disaster.
Cabanas said that more communities will be evacuated so as to prevent
possible lahar floods from causing further loss of lives.
“The conditions are critical in the areas near Fuego volcano,” said Eddy
Sanchez, director of the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology,
Meteorology and Hydrology.
Sanchez said that the rescue missions had encountered difficulties since
some soil that was originally perceived to be cold turned out to be up 400
degrees Celsius.
According to Sanchez, Sunday’s eruption is the most violent explosion of
Fuego volcano since 1974.
He added that the National Autonomous University of Mexico had sent a team
of scientists to study the volcano.
On Tuesday, Fuego volcano erupted again, unleashing a new flow of
dangerous volcanic material. The latest explosion forced thousands of
rescuers to abruptly suspend the search for victims.
According to volcanologists, eruption records of Fuego Volcano, one of the
country’s most active volcanoes, date back to 1542.
At its fiercest, the volcano could spray ash all the way to Guatemala’s
southern neighbors of El Salvador and Honduras.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/1048 hrs