Guatemala volcano eruption: Toll rises to 69 as more bodies recovered

TIL Desk/World/Guatemala City/ The death toll from a highly active volcano that erupted near Guatemala’s capital on Sunday rose to 69 as rescue workers pulled more bodies on Tuesday from under the dust and rubble.

In addition, there are 46 people injured, most of them seriously, more than 1.7 million being hit by the disaster, including 3,271 ordered evacuated and 1,787 in shelters in the departments of Escuintla, Sacatepequez and Chimaltenango since Sunday’s eruption.

The 3,763-metre volcano erupted early on Sunday, spewing out towering plumes of ash and a hail of fiery rock fragments with scalding mud. Authorities had warned the death toll could rise. After an initial toll of 25 dead, it was revised upwards within hours as bodies were recovered from villages razed by the tumbling mud.