At least 25 killed, 20 injured by volcano eruption in Guatemala

EL RODEO, Guatemala (AP) — Rescuers used heavy machinery and shovels Monday to search for survivors or victims of an eruption at Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire, and residents said they were caught unaware by fast-moving pyroclastic flows that killed at least 25 people and left authorities fearing the toll could go higher.

The volcano west of Guatemala City exploded the previous day, sending towering clouds of ash miles into the air and hot flows of ash mixed with water and debris down its flanks, blocking roads and burning homes.

The charred landscape left behind was still too hot to touch or even to pull bodies from in many parts, melting the shoes of rescuers. Workers told of finding bodies so thickly coated with ash they appeared to be statues. Inhaling ash or hot volcanic gases can asphyxiate people quickly.

Hilda Lopez said the volcanic mud swept into her village of San Miguel Los Lotes, just below the mountain’s flanks. She still doesn’t know where her mother or her sister are.

Disaster agency spokesman David de Leon said 18 bodies had been found in San Miguel Los Lotes. 

Eddy Sanchez, director of the country’s seismology and volcanology institute, said the flows reached temperatures of about 1,300 degrees fahrenheit or 700 degrees celsius.

At least 20 people were injured, and authorities have said they feared the death toll could rise with an undetermined number of people unaccounted for.

The disaster agency said 3,265 people had been evacuated.