President Colom of Guatemala declared an emergency after the Pacaya volcano erupted killing one person and forcing the airport to close. The volcano is spewing lava and rocks near the capital. The ash is now covering 50 km of the region.

The President has issued a decree lasting 15 days or longer for the three nearest departments closet to the eruption. The eruption began on Wednesday and is continuing to build and intensify.

The person who was killed was a Guatemalan TV journalist who could not escape the eruption. Three children are reported missing as well. The airport remains closed due to ash being on the runway and to protect planes from flying into the ash cloud. Flights were being rerouted to other airports in the country.

The volcano is located in Central America and is above sea level at 2552 meters. The evacuations included some 1600 people around the volcano. In Guatemala there are 288 volcanoes and eight of them are still active.

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