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Death toll from erupting volcano in Guatemala climbs to 25

Guatemala's civil aviation authority said earlier that the eruption forced the authorities to shut down the La Aurora international airport in the capital

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. The death toll after Guatemala’s highly active volcano Fuego erupted on Sunday near the country’s capital climbed to 25, EFE news agency reported citing National Disaster Reduction Coordinator (CONRED) spokesman David de Leon as saying.

Various media reports announced earlier that at least seven people were killed and up to 300 were injured in the eruption.

Local Prensa Libre reported citing Sergio Cabanas, the secretary general of Guatemala's CONRED disaster agency, that the natural calamity affected in total over 1.7 million people in the country, which has a population of about 17 million.

According to specialists from Guatemala’s National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology, the volcano, which is located just 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the southwest of the country’s capital, Guatemala City, is churning up ashes to the height of 10 kilometers above the sea level.

Guatemala's civil aviation authority announced in its Twitter account earlier that the eruption forced the authorities to shut down the La Aurora international airport in the capital.