(Guatemala) The eruption of the Volcan de Fuego, in Guatemala, led to the closure for a few hours on Sunday of the main airport of the country, announced the authorities, who so far have not ordered the evacuation of the population.
The Fuego, 3763 meters high and located about 35 kilometers from the capital Guatemala City, began a new eruptive phase on Saturday evening, accompanied by explosions, lava flows and ash projections, announced the National Institute of Volcanology. .
La Aurora International Airport in the Guatemalan capital was “temporarily” closed mid-morning, the Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics said in a statement, due to “the presence of ash” near the runway.
He resumed his activities three hours later, around noon (1 p.m. [heure de l’Est]), said the director of civil aeronautics, Francis Argueta. “We decided to resume operations because a north-south wind” dispersed the ashes, Argueta said in a video posted on social media.
PHOTO JOHAN ORDONEZ, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Civil protection has not ordered preventive evacuations, but remains attentive, said its spokesman Rodolfo García.
The closure led to the diversion of at least two flights that were supposed to land in La Aurora, one from Miami (USA) and the other from Santo Domingo, and delayed the takeoff of other planes, according to aviation sources.
In addition, a highway linking the south and the center of the country was closed on Sunday due to the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego (literally: “Volcano of fire”), the most active volcano in Central America.
The eruption maintains an “incandescent fountain” of lava more than 300 meters above the crater and a column of ash that rises more than two kilometers, according to the institute of volcanology, which also warned against new avalanches of burning materials.
In the indigenous village of Alotenango, located nine kilometers east of the volcano, residents witnessed a sudden eruption of lava on Saturday evening that reddened the sky. “People are used to it and see it as normal,” said 28-year-old Mayan farmer Demetrio Pamal.
Civil protection has not ordered preventive evacuations, but remains attentive, said its spokesman Rodolfo García.
On June 3, 2018, the Fuego caused an avalanche of burning material that swept through the town of San Miguel Los Lotes and covered part of a road, leaving 215 people dead and a similar number missing.
“With what happened in 2018, the authorities are more alert and more active,” said José Sul, another resident of Alotenango.
Two other volcanoes are also active in Guatemala: Santiaguito (west) and Pacaya, 20 km south of the capital.