Guatemalan authorities have ordered the evacuation of two villages near the Fuego volcano, which began erupting on Monday morning and intensified throughout the day. The Guatemalan disaster management agency, CONRED, confirmed the evacuations of El Porvenir and the hamlet of Las Lajitas as a preventive measure, affecting approximately 50 families or 250 people.
Live footage showed large clouds of gas and ash rising from the volcano, with lava and pyroclastic flows descending the slopes at high speed. The Guatemalan Seismology, Vulcanology, Weather and Water Institute reported that the eruption's explosiveness increased, with a lava fountain reaching between 200 and 300 meters above the crater.
CONRED declared an orange alert, warning of potential ash spread to nearby towns. A major highway, National Route 14, which runs close to the volcano, has been closed, and the Ministry of Education has suspended classes in the vicinity.
The Fuego volcano is one of Guatemala's most active. A significant eruption in June 2018 resulted in hundreds of deaths and destroyed an entire village, impacting approximately 1.7 million people. Another eruption last June also prompted precautionary evacuations.