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News > World

Guatemala: Authorities Struggle to Identify Victims After Fuego Eruption, International Community Pledges Support

  • A police officer runs away after the Fuego volcano spew new pyroclastic flow in Guatemala.

    A police officer runs away after the Fuego volcano spew new pyroclastic flow in Guatemala. | Photo: Reuters

Published 5 June 2018
Opinion

The Bolivarian Government of Venezuela said it will provide Guatemala with “all the help it needs.”

Guatemalan authorities are struggling to identify the remains of the persons, who died in the villages around the Fuego Volcano, following its eruption on Sunday and Monday.

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So far only 17 of the 69 recovered bodies have been identified with several more persons said to be missing.

"It costs us a lot to identify them because some of the deceased lost their features or fingerprints (due to the lava and ash)," Fanuel Garcia, the director of the National Institute of Forensic Science said. "We will have to resort to other anthropological methods and if it is possible to take DNA samples to identify them.”

More than 3,000 people were forced to evacuate, and nearly 2 million have been affected following the eruption.

As the Central American country struggles to identify the victims, countries in the region and other parts of the world have sent their condolences to those who lost their lives and pledged assistance.

The Venezuelan government issued an official statement Monday pledging support for the Guatemala people. It noted that it “regrets the onslaught of nature on the country” that claimed the lives of so many people and “ever faithful to its politics of solidarity, reiterates to the Government and People of Guatemala” that the government of President Nicolas Maduro will provide “all the help it needs.”

Paraguayan President Horacio Cortes expressed his condolences to Guatemala in an official Twitter post. “Our fraternal embrace and heartfelt condolences to all the Guatemalan people in these sad circumstances. Paraguay accompanies the families of the deceased, and (others) affected, with our prayers and solidarity... Strength Guatemala!”

Peru's Foreign Ministry tweeted its “condolences and solidarity to the government and people of Guatemala for the loss of life and serious damage caused by the eruption” of El Fuego Volcano.

The European Union's Commissioner of Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, expressed solidarity with the people of Guatemala. "Our thoughts are with all the victims and their families and with the disappeared, as well as with the brave teams of immediate intervention and emergency services," the commissioner said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a team of seven firefighters from the Mexican municipality of El Marques in the central state of Queretaro departed for Guatemala Monday to assist in the recovery efforts. Oscar Guevara, the head of the mission, said, “We got in touch to offer support,” according to EFE.

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