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El Fuego Explodes in Guatemala: Biggest in Four Decades

President Jimmy Morales declared a state of emergency for parts of Guatemala after the Fuego volcano erupted on Sunday and Monday in its worst explosion in more than 40 years. More than 3,000 people were forced to evacuate and nearly 2 million have been affected. Plumes of ash and debris reached more than 10,000 meters into the sky and have spread east across the country.

 

The Fuego, or "fire," volcano in Guatemala in the background and the kilometers of pyroclastic flow it has left in the wake of its two immense explosions on Sunday and Monday. June 4, 2018. Photo: Reuters via social media
 
A first responder who fell trying to escape the ash fall and pyroclastic flow that has engulfed the area around El Fuego volcano located about 15 km from the town of Antigua. The flow has spread most heavily across Guatemala's three southwest departments of Sacatepequez, Chimaltenango, and Escuintla, but ash clouds now cover nearly all parts of the country, according to maps provided by the Guatemalan Volcanology Unit. June 4, 2107. Photo: Reuters
 
A medic rescues a young girl from the El Fuego explosion on Sunday night in the town of El Rodeo, a town hit particularly hard by the volcano's lava and ash mushroom clouds that burst over 10,000 meters into the sky. Many in the town who managed to escape told reporters that their families and friends were missing and trapped in rural parts of the town. Photo: Reuters
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A woman consoles another at a makeshift rescue shelter where people who managed to escape Sunday and Monday's explosion of El Fuego near Escuintla are staying temporarily. President Jimmy Morales declared a state of emergency and calamity in Sacatepequez, Chimaltenango, and Escuintla departments. Photo: Reuters
 
A police officer runs away from a new pyroclastic flow spewed by the Fuego volcano in the community of San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 4, 2018. A 5.2 magnitude earthquake took place off the coast of Guatemala on Monday morning. Photo: Reuters

 

Children play in a basketball court in Guatelama City covered with ash after El Fuego's worst eruption in over four decades on Sunday. Guatemala City is located some 50 kilometers from the explosive volcano that erupted once again on Monday morning. June 3, 2017. Photo: Reuters
 

 

Officials stand around the bodies of victims of the El Fuego volcanic explosions on Sunday and Monday. Eddy Sanchez, director of the country's volcanology unit said that ash and debris flow reached temperatures of about 700 degrees Celsius. So far, the number of official fatalities is 62, and only 13 have so far been identified. Those numbers are expected to rise as rescue crews begin to reach areas that were unsafe on Sunday.  Photo: Reuters
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Fuego, one of Central America’s most active volcanoes, produced an explosive eruption on June 3 that sent ash billowing 1000s of meters into the air. One of our @NASAEarth satellites captured this image, while another made observations of sulfur dioxide Photo: NASA
 

 

The president of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, speaks during a press conference in Guatemala City Sunday, June 3, 2018. Hundreds of people have been injured from the volcano flows and 1.7 million affected. President Morales announced a state of emergency and calamity for the southwest departments most affected by the explosions. The president said that his counterparts in Mexico,  counterparts,  Honduras, and El Salvador expressed their solidarity and offered help. Photo: EFE
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Some of the first funerals for the victims of the Fuego volcano eruption are starting to take place.  Several family members mourn their loved one killed from the explosion at a religious wake in a plaza in Alotenango, Guatemala June 4, 2018. Photo: Reuters
 

 

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Fuego, one of Central America’s most active volcanoes, produced an explosive eruption on June 3 that sent ash billowing 1000s of meters into the air. One of our @NASAEarth satellites captured this image, while another made observations of sulfur dioxide
Published 4 June 2018
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