Residents of two villages near Guatemala’s Fuego volcano have been evacuated following an eruption that started on Monday.
Claudinne Ogaldes, executive secretary of the Guatemalan disaster managing agency, CONRED, confirmed on Monday evening to The Associated Press that the eruption started on Monday morning and increased during the day, which led to evacuation orders for two villages around the mountain.
CONRED said in a press statement that authorities were evacuating El Porvenir and the hamlet of Las Lajitas as a preventive measure, which would be around 50 families or 250 people.
Live images of the situation showed big clouds of gas and ash over the volcano as lava and pyroclastic flows rolled down the slopes at great speed. “The eruption increases its explosiveness level. A fountain of lava of between 200 and 300 meters (650 to 1,000 feet) has developed over the crater,” according to a report from the Guatemalan Seismology, Vulcanology, Weather and Water Institute.
Guatemalan authorities have issued the country’s second-highest emergency alert level after a major eruption of Central America’s most active volcano, prompting the evacuation of nearby villages.
The orange “danger” alert applies nationwide.
Conred spokesperson Valeria Urizar said in a video posted on social media, “If an evacuation is ordered or conditions pose a risk to your life, follow the principle of self-evacuation.”
“We heard the rumblings and then a strong eruption. We have faith in God… that the volcano’s activity will calm down soon,” Manuel Cobox, 46, told AFP after leaving his home with his wife and three daughters.
Juan Laureano, a spokesman for Guatemala’s disaster coordination agency, Conred, said around 900 people were moved to safety from the community of El Porvenir, including some 125 families.
Buses brought evacuees to a town hall converted into temporary shelter.
“We’ve already gotten used to having the volcano constantly active, but this time it was really too much,” 50-year-old resident Sonia Vasquez told AFP.
CONRED also warned of ash spreading to nearby towns.
A major highway that passes close to the volcano, National Route 14, was closed.
The Education Ministry suspended classes in nearby towns.
Guatemala’s Institute of Volcanology warned in a statement that the volcano was “moving towards a more explosive phase.”
The education ministry ordered the suspension of face-to-face classes in communities within two municipalities near the volcano as a precaution.
In the viral moment that has drawn global attention,
Fuego’s eruption on Monday morning had intensified by nightfall, with lava flows and huge plumes of ash rising about six kilometres (four miles) into the air.
Officials began evacuating two villages near the volcano on Monday, which is located 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City.
The Fuego volcano is one of the most active in Guatemala.
Another eruption in June last year spurred preventive evacuations.
Authorities evacuated more than 500 people last year after Fuego spewed gas and ash, with residents moved to shelters from communities near the crater.
Another eruption from Fuego in 2023 caused the evacuation of around 1,200 people.
In 2018, 215 people were killed and a similar number left missing when rivers of lava poured down the volcano’s slopes, devastating a nearby village.
Guatemala remains on high alert Tuesday as authorities continue monitoring the volcano’s activity.