At least 25 people are dead following the eruption of the Vulcan de Fuego volcano in Guatemala.
The volcano, located around 40km south-west of the Guatemalan capital, Guatemala City, had its second eruption this year at roughly noon on Sunday, local time.
As the ABC is reporting, the initial explosion was followed four hours later by lava flows which reached temperatures of up to 700 degrees Celsius.
According to Guatemala’s disaster agency, CONRED, the death toll rose to 25 after bodies were found in the communities of El Rodeo, Alotenango, and San Miguel los Lotes. Nearly 300 people are believed to have been injured.
El volcán de Fuego inició su segunda erupción del presente año, con explosiones que elevan columnas de ceniza a 6 mil metros sobre el nivel del mar, flujos piroclásticos en barrancas. Por el momento no es necesario realizar evacuaciones.
Video: Armando Pineda, Espeleólogo. pic.twitter.com/rKQBeDyOgN— CONRED (@ConredGuatemala) June 3, 2018
National Disaster Coordinator Sergio Cabañas identified two of the dead as a pair of children who were burned to death as they were watching the eruption from a bridge and another as a CONRED official who was killed when a house in El Rodeo caught on fire.
According to CONRED, over 1.7 million people have been affected by the eruption, with around 3,100 people evacuated from the area.
Ash from the volcano prompted the closure of Guatemala City’s international airport.
Officials have said there is concern that the death toll will rise, with a number of people still unaccounted for,
