Guatemalan volcano death toll rises as rescue efforts continue
Roll calls are being undertaken to determine how many people are missing, after Sunday’s explosive eruption of the Fuego volcano
Alotenango — Rescue workers have pulled more bodies from under the dust and rubble left by an explosive eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano, bringing the death toll to at least 69 by late on Monday. Seventeen of the dead had been identified so far, said Fanuel Garcia, head of the National Institute of Forensic Sciences. In addition, there are 46 people injured, most of them seriously. More than 1.7-million have been affected by Sunday’s eruption, including 3,271 people who were ordered to evacuate and 1,787 who were in shelters in the departments of Escuintla, Sacatepequez and Chimaltenango. The 3,763m volcano erupted early on Sunday, spewing out towering plumes of ash and a hail of fiery rock fragments with scalding mud. Authorities had warned the death toll could rise after searches resumed for survivors in communities on the mountain’s southern flank. An initial death toll of 25 was revised higher within hours as bodies were recovered from villages razed by the tumbling mud. "T...
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