Toll in Guatemala volcano eruption rises to 62: officials

The death toll in the eruption of Guatemala's Fuego volcano rose to 62 today as rescue workers recovered more bodies from devastated villages.

David de Leon, spokesman for Guatemala's disaster management agency, said several more bodies had been recovered in the rubble of villages on the volcano's southern flank, which bore the brunt of the disaster.

The previous toll was 33. Authorities had warned the death toll could rise as a number of people had been reported missing.

De Leon said some 1.7 million people had been affected when the volcano erupted on Sunday, shooting a dense cloud of ash into the sky and sending a hail of fiery rock fragments and scalding mud down the mountainside, burying homes.

Fuego has been erupting since 2002, and was continuously active in 2017. There were explosions and ash plumes on May 19-21 as well as a volcanic mudflow on May 17.

The last emergency occurred in September 2012, causing the evacuation of some 10,000 people from villages on its slopes.

Fanuel Garcia, head of the country's Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) -- which is tasked with identifying the remains -- told reporters that "so far, INACIF is working on 62 bodies."