Guatemala issues 'danger' alert after Fuego volcano erupts

GUATEMALA CITY: Guatemalan authorities issued on Monday the country’s second-highest emergency alert level after a major eruption of Central America’s most active volcano.

“An orange (danger) alert has been declared nationwide due to the eruption of the Fuego volcano,” said disaster coordination agency Conred on X as it began evacuating two villages near the volcano, located 35 kilometers (22 miles) from capital Guatemala City.

There have been several such mass evacuations in recent years because Fuego erupted.

Guatemala lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

Last year, authorities evacuated more than 500 people after Fuego spewed gas and ash, moving residents to shelters from communities near the crater.

The government suspended local school activities and closed a road linking the south of the country to the colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Another eruption in 2023 from the 3,763-meter (12,346-foot) Fuego 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 village.