WATCH: Baby rescued from Fuego volcanic eruption rubble
About 1.7 million people in Guatemala have been affected by the volcanic eruption, 3 000 have been evacuated, 200 are currently missing, and 75 are now confirmed dead.
The Fuego volcanoe erupted on Monday, June 4. Hundreds of residents in Guatemala are still missing. Image: Video screenshot.
Rescue efforts after Sunday night’s unexpected eruption of Fuego volcano in Guatemala were disrupted on Tuesday, when a new eruption sent hot gas and lava streaming down the volcano’s south side.
Nearly 200 are now missing and 75 have been confirmed dead. The death toll includes families buried in lava when the volcano erupted with ferocious fury and without warning while they were sleeping.
The BBC reported that 1.7-million people have been affected by the eruption and 3 000 have been evacuated.
As the death toll continues to rise, the rescue of a baby from an ash covered house served as a beacon of hope.
https://youtu.be/npYUq2LzXn8
The 3 763-metre (12 346-foot) volcano erupted early on Sunday, spewing out towering plumes of ash and a hail of fiery rock fragments with scalding mud.
https://youtu.be/jA5VQ9rL0eE
Authorities had warned the death toll could increase on Monday, after searches resumed for survivors in communities on the mountain’s southern flank.
After an initial toll of 25 dead, it was revised upwards within hours as bodies were recovered from villages razed by the tumbling mud.
“There are missing persons, but we do not know how many,” said Sergio Cabanas of Guatemala’s disaster management agency. A roll call of communities on the slopes of the volcano was under way, he said.
The speed and ferocity of the eruption took mountain communities by surprise, with many of the dead found in or around their homes.
