Guatemala City — At least 25 people were killed when Guatemala’s Fuego volcano erupted on Sunday, belching ash and rock and forcing the airport to close, the country’s disaster agency said. "The toll was 25 dead as of 9pm [3am GMT on Monday]," the spokesman for the National Co-ordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) said in a WhatsApp group. Search and rescue operations for the missing and dead had been suspended due to low light and dangerous conditions, and would resume early on Monday morning, the spokesman said. The eruption sent ash billowing over the surrounding area, turning plants and trees gray and blanketing streets, cars and people. Farmers covered in ash fled for their lives as civil defence staffers tried to relocate them to shelters during the event. Earlier, Conred chief Sergio Cabanas and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales held a news conference, saying that the eruption left seven dead, 20 injured and affected more than 1.7-million people. Morales announced a red ...

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