Authorities in Guatemala have ordered evacuations in some southern communities around the Fuego volcano, which is erupting.

Axar.az reports, citing The Associated Press, that Claudinne Ogaldes, executive secretary of the Guatemalan disaster managing agency, CONRED, confirmed on Monday evening to The Associated Press that the eruption started on Monday morning and increased during the day, which led to evacuation orders for two villages around the mountain.

Live images of the situation showed big clouds of gas and ash over the volcano as lava and pyroclastic flows rolled down the slopes at great speed.

“The eruption increases its explosiveness level. A fountain of lava of between 200 and 300 meters (650 to 1,000 feet) has developed over the crater,” according to a report from the Guatemalan Seismology, Vulcanology, Weather and Water Institute.

CONRED said in a press statement that authorities were evacuating El Porvenir and the hamlet of Las Lajitas as a preventive measure. That would be around 50 families or 250 people. The agency declared an orange alert and warned of ashes spreading to nearby towns.

It should be noted that Fuego has produced several destructive eruptions in recent years. In 2023, around 1,700 people were evacuated from the danger zone.

The volcano's deadliest eruption occurred in 2018, when lava and pyroclastic flows engulfed nearby communities, killing 215 people.