VOLCANIC STATUES
Hundreds of Guatemala volcano victims feared by authorities to be ‘Pompeii-like statues’
Some victims may be preserved in a similar way to the victims of the Vesuvius eruption in 79AD
HUNDREDS of volcano victims were feared to have been turned to “Pompeii-like” statues yesterday as a white hot ash cloud engulfed villages in Guatemala.
At least 75 have already been confirmed dead and 200 more are missing after entire communities were engulfed by the torrent from the “Volcano of Fire” peak.
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Desperate rescue teams and families braved continuing spouts of ash and boiling lava searching for loved ones amid fears of even bigger eruptions.
Authorities fear hundreds have already been entombed as shock pictures emerged of bodies turned to ghostly "statues" by the 200 degree celsius cloud.
Just 17 of the dead have been named as burns made identification impossible for many victims of the volcano, 10 miles from the historic world heritage city of Antigua.
Seismology and Vulcanology Institute officials said “pyroclastic” flows down the southeastern slopes have turned into a fast-moving curtain of doom.
Guatemala orders urgent evacuation as Fuego volcano erupts again sparking 'curtain of ash'
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The disaster mirrors the eruption of Italy’s Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 in which hundreds of victims were frozen in time under piles of ash.
In both catastrophes a wall of white hot ash moved down the mountain at incredible speeds, asphyxiating victims then burning and entombing them.
Ash was expected to blast to heights of 20,000 feet as the “Volcan de Fuego” peak continued to explode around ten times an hour.
Bodies were found yesterday amongst buildings covered in a film of white ash as entire villages were reported to have been overwhelmed.
Dramatic footage as car speeds away from huge ash cloud following eruption of Fuego volcano on Guatemala
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Authorities have now warned a greater eruption could be imminent.
Seismologist Eddy Sanchez said: "The conditions are extremely critical at this moment.”
Towns of El Rodeo, Alotenango and San Miguel los Lotes have been worst hit as health officials reported 58 people in hospital with burns. Twelve children were being transferred by air to specialist hospitals.
El Rodeo was almost entirely buried under ash and rock yesterday while remote villages on Fuego’s foothills remain inaccessible.
Rescue efforts have been further hampered by heavy rains generating a pall of steam rising from hot ash coating the hillsides.
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A pyroclastic flow is a fast-moving current of extremely hot gas and volcanic matter that pours down slopes at incredibly high speeds.
The Fuego peak - one of several active volcanoes out of 34 in the Central American country - is just 25 miles from the capital Guatemala City.
Dramatic moment baby is rescued from ash-covered home after Guatemala's Fuego Volcano tore through villages killing 75