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There was no time to eat. Sunday family lunches were interrupted, the food left on the table. Children abandoned toys, and clothes still hung on lines in backyards. Animals died petrified. Guatemalan authorities reacted slowly to signs of the Fuego volcano's impending eruption on June 3, contributing to one of the most tragic natural disasters in recent Guatemalan history. The volcano rumbled to life early that Sunday. By midday, it was spewing ash in smoking columns miles high that then fell, dusting a wide swath of the Central American country. But with the mountain's rumbles and the first ash showers, many villagers made a fatal bet to stay put, gambling that luck that had protected them for decades would hold once again. In the afternoon things took a turn for the worse. Tons of ash propelled by scalding, toxic gases poured down Fuego's flanks. By the time most families in the worst-hit hamlets of El Rodeo and San Miguel de Los Lotes knew what was happening, they only had time to run, if that. At least 110 people have died and close to 200 are thought buried under the rubble in the hamlet on the fertile lower slopes of the volcano. Here: A window of a house is covered with ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

There was no time to eat. Sunday family lunches were interrupted, the food left on the table. Children abandoned toys, and clothes still hung on lines in backyards. Animals died petrified. Guatemalan authorities reacted slowly to signs of the Fuego volcano's impending eruption on June 3, contributing to one of the most tragic natural disasters in recent Guatemalan history. The volcano rumbled to life early that Sunday. By midday, it was spewing ash in smoking columns miles high that then fell, dusting a wide swath of the Central American country. But with the mountain's rumbles and the first ash showers, many villagers made a fatal bet to stay put, gambling that luck that had protected them for decades would hold once again. In the afternoon things took a turn for the worse. Tons of ash propelled by scalding, toxic gases poured down Fuego's flanks. By the time most families in the worst-hit hamlets of El Rodeo and San Miguel de Los Lotes knew what was happening, they only had time to run, if that. At least 110 people have died and close to 200 are thought buried under the rubble in the hamlet on the fertile lower slopes of the volcano. Here: A window of a house is covered with ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A dead parakeet is seen outside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A dead parakeet is seen outside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A toy covered with ash lies inside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A toy covered with ash lies inside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A terrace of a house is covered with ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A terrace of a house is covered with ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A dog walks past trees covered with ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano in San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A dog walks past trees covered with ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano in San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



Wall decorations covered with ash hang in a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Wall decorations covered with ash hang in a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A shoe covered with ash lies inside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A shoe covered with ash lies inside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A drum covered with ash lies outside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A drum covered with ash lies outside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A bathroom covered with ash is seen inside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A bathroom covered with ash is seen inside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A radio covered with ash is seen after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A radio covered with ash is seen after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



Clothes covered with ash hang on washing lines outside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Clothes covered with ash hang on washing lines outside a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



Onions are seen at a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Onions are seen at a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A window of a house is covered with ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A window of a house is covered with ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



Banana leafs covered with ash are seen in the area affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Banana leafs covered with ash are seen in the area affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



Books and a toy lie on the ground at a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano in San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Books and a toy lie on the ground at a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano in San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A car is seen covered in ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 10, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A car is seen covered in ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 10, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A house covered with ash is seen after the eruption of the Fuego volcano in San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A house covered with ash is seen after the eruption of the Fuego volcano in San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



Toys covered with ash lie on top of a roof of a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Toys covered with ash lie on top of a roof of a house affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)



A kitchen of a house is covered in ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A kitchen of a house is covered in ash after the eruption of the Fuego volcano at San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)
15 Jun 2018 00:03:00