Video: Residents evacuated as Guatemalan volcano spews lava, rocks

Guatemalan authorities evacuated around a thousand people on Monday after Central America's most active volcano erupted, spewing lava, ash and rocks. Residents sought safety in a temporary shelter after the Fuego volcano - 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Guatemala City's capital - showed escalating activity on Sunday.

"We heard the rumblings and then a strong eruption. We have faith in God... that the volcano's activity will calm down soon," Manuel Cobox, 46, told AFP after leaving his home with his wife and three daughters.

Juan Laureano, a spokesman for Guatemala's disaster coordination agency, Conred, said around 900 people were moved to safety from the community of El Porvenir, including some 125 families.

The official added that residents of another community in Las Lajitas were also evacuated. Buses brought evacuees carrying belongings to a town hall turned into a temporary shelter. In 2018, 215 people were killed, and a similar number were left missing as an eruption of the Fuego volcano sent rivers of lava pouring down its sides, devastating the village of San Miguel Los Lotes.

Another eruption in 2023 from the 3,763-meter (12,346-foot) Fuego caused the evacuation of around 1,200 people.

Conrad said the authorities issued an alert on Sunday to coordinate the response and preventive measures. The government suspended local school activities and closed a road through the village that links the country's south to the colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Guatemala's most popular tourist destination.