(CMR) Guatemala's Volcan del Fuego is erupting this afternoon and has reportedly already killed 6 people and injured 20 as authorities are desperately scrambling to rescue persons.
Ash and black smoke are spewing everywhere and filling the sky of the Central American nation following the devastating eruption.
Reports updated around 5:25 p.m. said that authorities in Guatemala say six people have been killed and 20 injured by the eruption of a volcano southwest of the capital. National Disaster Coordinator Sergio Cabanas says an undetermined number of people also are missing following Sunday’s eruption of the Volcan del Fuego, which is 44 kilometers (27 miles) from Guatemala City.
Cabanas says four people died when lava set a house on fire and two children were burned to death while standing on a bridge watching the eruption.
Disaster agency spokesman David de Leon says about 300 people have been evacuated from nearby villages, which are being blanketed by ash as fiery smoke billows nearly four miles into the sky. Some ash also has fallen on the capital.
In an effort to calm alarmed residents seeing horrifying smoke filling the air, David de Leon, a spokesman for the National Disaster Prevention Authority urged people to remain calm.
He said:
“It is important to remain calm because the Fuego volcano erupts throughout the year.”
At 3:15 p.m. this afternoon reports were that the volcano southwest of Guatemala’s capital had erupted for the second time this year, setting off loud explosions and spewing ash nearly four miles into the sky.
The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction in Guatemala said Sunday that fiery clouds of smoke were billowing from the Volcan del Fuego and that soot blanketed cars and houses in the nearby villages of San Pedro Yepocapa and Sangre de Cristo.
Lesser amounts of ash fell on Guatemala City, which is 44 kilometers (27 miles) from the volcano.
Volcan del Fuego is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America.
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