Guatemala volcano spews ash and lava, threatening residents of 5 nearby villages

Weather of Arabia - The Guatemalan authorities announced that they had evacuated more than a thousand people from five villages adjacent to the Fuego volcano, which is close to the capital and the most active in Central America, due to its eruption.

The volcano's eruption began on Thursday morning, with clouds of thick smoke and ash billowing over farms and towns near the foot of the volcano, raising concerns about the safety of its residents.

Oscar Kosio, an official at the Disaster Management Center (Conried), told a press conference that 1,054 people living in five villages had been evacuated.

And the "AFP" quoted the Disaster Management Center as saying that the volcano called Fuego (fire in Spanish) releases "lava" - a hot mixture of gas, ash and rocks - "it descends very quickly on the sides of the volcanic mountain", and the height of the ash column emitted from the volcano reached about six feet. Thousands of meters above sea level.

The volcano is about 35 km from the capital, Guatemala. But Conried said ash is falling west and southwest of the volcano, far from the capital, to the northeast.

The same official said that this may be followed by stronger emissions as the volcano continues to erupt, noting that rain is expected to cause landslides.

For his part, Rodolfo Garcia, an official in the Disaster Management Authority, estimated the population of the areas exposed to ash from the volcano at about 130,000. The ash reached areas about 100 kilometers from the crater of the volcano, stressing that 13 shelters have been opened in four nearby towns, with a total capacity of 7,600 people.

The authorities decided to close a road at the foot of the volcano linking a number of towns to the city of Antigua, an important tourist destination that was included by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on its list of world heritage.

It advised residents of areas at risk of ash clouds to strictly follow the authorities' instructions, and urged local residents and tourists to avoid a seven-kilometer-wide restricted area around the volcano.

She called on the residents to cover the water tanks to avoid any contamination, put masks, remove the falling debris on the roofs of their homes to prevent any damage that may result from the weight of the sediment, and prepare the necessary bags for themselves and their pets in case they are forced to evacuate their homes.

Last December, the emission of lava and ash from the volcano itself prompted the authorities to temporarily close the largest airport in the country.

This 3,763-meter-high volcano erupts every four or five years, and in 2018, its eruption caused rivers of lava to flow down its sides, destroying the village of San Miguel los Lotus, killing 215 people and leaving a similar number missing.

Guatemala has two other active volcanoes, Santiagotito in the west of the country and Pacaya in the south.