SAN MIGUEL LOS LOTES: The United States is sending emergency aid, including financial resources, to help meet food, water and sanitation needs for victims affected by the eruption of Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire.
The White House says President Donald Trump’s administration is also sending aircraft to help transport burn victims to Florida for treatment.
Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the aid is being provided at the request of the Guatemalan government. Guatemala recently moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following a recent similar move by the US
Sanders on Thursday offered “deepest condolences” to victims of the volcano eruption and said the US will continue to coordinate with the Guatemalan government.
Guatemalan officials have confirmed 99 dead, with many more missing. Recovery efforts have been suspended.
Guatemalan rescuers’ decision to suspend recovery efforts in villages devastated by a volcanic eruption is leaving some people with relatives still missing distraught.
Nohemi Ascon is the 41-year-old aunt of six young children who were killed in Sunday’s eruption of the Volcano of Fire. A photograph shows their bodies huddled on a bed in the corner of a room, covered in white ash and blood.
Ascon says she still has other family members unaccounted for — her father, mother and sisters. She adds that it’s “not right” to leave their bodies there.
In her words: “They should get them out so we can take them to the cemetery.”
The children died in the town of San Miguel Los Lotes. Ascon is in a shelter in the city of San Miguel Los Lotes.
The national disaster agency says it’s suspending recovery efforts because of the danger to its workers. The official death toll is 99 with nearly 200 still missing.
