Free Republic

Shocking satellite photos show entire towns obliterated after Guatemala's 'Volcano of Fire' buried them in tons of ash that crushed hundreds of homes and burned 300 people alive Volcan de Fuego erupted on Sunday and again on Tuesday, sending ash and smoke 20,000ft into the air Pyroclastic flows destroyed at least seven towns and turned green canyons into grey devastation Rescuers dug up 99 bodies with at least 197 people missing and, they believe, almost certainly dead Searches are hampered by rain, mudslides, poisonous gas, and 1,300F temperatures just below the surface Giant clouds of superheated smoke and ash burned...

Rescuers struggled to reach rural residents cut off by a volcanic eruption that killed at 25 people near Guatemala's capital, and authorities feared the death toll could rise with an undetermined number of people unaccounted for. The Volcan de Fuego, Spanish for "volcano of fire," exploded in a hail of ash and molten rock shortly before noon Sunday, blanketing nearby villages in heavy ash. Then it began sending lava flows down the mountain's flank and across homes and roads around 4 p.m. local time Eddy Sanchez, director of the country's seismology and volcanology institute, said the flows reached temperatures of...