refuge after the Fuego volcano — located 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital Guatemala City — showed escalating activity. “We heard the rumblings and then a strong eruption,” Manuel Cobox, 46, told AFP after leaving his home with his wife and three daughters.

Some 125 families, around 900 people, were moved to safety from the community of El Porvenir, said Juan Laureano, a spokesman for Guatemala’s disaster coordination agency, Conred. Residents of another community in Las Lajitas were also evacuated, the official added. Buses brought evacuees carrying belongings to a town hall turned into a temporary shelter, while others stayed with friends or relatives. Around 30,000 people were potentially “at risk” and should evacuate themselves if necessary, Conred head Claudinne Ogaldes told a news conference. Guatemala lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity.