"The toll was 25 dead as of 9.00 pm (0300 GMT Monday)," the spokesman for the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) said in a WhatsApp group. The eruption sent ash billowing over the surrounding area, turning plants and trees gray and blanketing streets, cars and people. Farmers covered in ash fled for their lives as civil defence staffers tried to relocate them to shelters during the event.

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Conred President Jimmy Morales announced a red alert for Escuintla, Chimaltenango and Sacatepequez, the areas most affected by the eruption, and an orange alert throughout the country.

The president said he and his government would determine whether to ask Congress to declare a state of emergency in the areas. Hundreds of personnel from the police, Red Cross and military have been dispatched to support emergency operations, Morales said. Dense ash blasted out by the volcano shut down Guatemala City's international airport, civil aviation said.

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