GUATEMALA: PACAYA VOLCANO ERUPTS

Описание: (21 May 1998) Spanish/Nat

Ash and sand has spewed more than six-thousand feet into the air from the Pacaya volcano, showering nearby Guatemala City with a rain of grey grit.

Authorities declared an emergency for towns around the base of the 8,420-foot volcano, 15 miles south of the capital.

The Pacaya volcano spewed ash and fine granules of lava into the air Wednesday, coating nearby Guatemala City.

Authorities declared an emergency in the towns around the base of the 8,420-foot volcano, 15 miles (20 kilometres) south of the capital, and prepared for a possible evacuation.

The clouds of ash and black particles reduced visibility and forced Guatemala City's international airport to close Wednesday afternoon.

The capital's two (m) million residents covered their faces with handkerchiefs and improvised masks.

In the town the cleanup operations were underway immediately as people tried to shake the coat of soot and ash that covered their streets and houses.

Some felt lucky to escape with their lives.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"It started and it didn't stop. There were a lot of big rocks falling down. We had to run out of there.
SUPER CAPTION: Carlos Jesus Roque, Vox Pop

Pacaya is the most active of Guatemala's 32 volcanoes, with three lava flows formed in eruptions between 1989 and 1991.

The most recent eruption occurred in November 1996, when several hundred people fled their homes or were evacuated from villages because airborne ash and lava flows.

Wednesday's ash shower was fairly normal for the volcano, which has erupted 29 times since the year 750.

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