Volcan del Fuego blows its top
Friday 14 September 2012
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EmailGuatemalan authorities ordered more than 33,000 people evacuated on Thursday when the Volcan del Fuego volcano erupted.
The volcano spewed torrents of lava and thick clouds of ash, sending a plume of smoke and fumes a mile in the air and covering surrounding fields.
Many of those near the volcano live in poor and isolated communities.
Hundreds of cars, trucks and buses fled from the volcano, which sits about six miles south-west of the tourist centre of Antigua.
The elderly, women and children were evacuated in school buses and ambulances.
Authorities set up a shelter at an elementary school in Santa Lucia and by nightfall around 750 people had arrived.
The Guatemalan Red Cross set up 10 emergency shelters and was sending hygiene kits and water to deal with reported respiratory and eye problems.
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