Death tolls have risen in Guatemala asexplosions continue to escalate at the country’s Fuego volcano.
In a press conference on Tuesday evening, Sergio Cabanas — the head of the National Coordination for Disaster Reduction of Guatemala (CONRED) —said that 192 people are still reported missing, CNN said.
Earlier in the day, Guatemala’s National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) said that75 people have died — but that only 23 of the deceased have been identified, ABC News reported.
It is expected that some of the missing are among the unidentified bodies, Cabanas said, according to ABC News.
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On Tuesday, more eruptions from Fuego forced rescue workers to scramble for safety, with ash billowing up more than 16,000 feet, ABC News reported.
Fuego first erupted last Sunday,causing smoke to blanket the airand a state of emergency to be declared. CONRED said it affected 1.7 million people, CNN reported,sending ash to neighborhoods as far as 12 miles away.
In addition,the eruption emitted a five-mile stream of red hot lava, Reuters reported. The areas hardest hit included the towns of El Rodeo, Alotenango and San Miguel los Lotes.
“It’s a river of lava that overflowed its banks and affected the El Rodeo village. There are injured, burned and dead people,” CONRED’s general secretary said, according to Reuters.
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Volcan de Fuego (“Volcano of Fire”) erupted earlier this year, sending ash just over a mile into the sky back in February, the BBC reported. It’s one of 34 volcanoes in the Central American country, many of which are still active.
Sunday’s eruption is the country’s deadliest since 1902, when the Santa Maria volcano erupted, the BBC said.
“We are not only talking about what has been described as the volcano’s biggest eruption since 1974. We are talking about a tragedy, a national mourning,” said Guatemala President Jimmy Morales, CNN reported.
source: people.com
