Guatemala volcano eruption MAP: How far is Fuego from Guatemala City? Is it erupting now?

The death toll rose to 62 from 38 on Monday, although officials could not say if more victims had been found or whether more people had died.

Around 300 people have been injured since Fuego began spewing lava and ash into the sky on Sunday.

A surging pyroclastic flow formed of burning mud and gas killed villagers caught unaware in El Rodeo, Escuintia.

Government volcanologist Gustavo Chigna said: "The landscape on the volcano is totally changed, everything is totally destroyed.”

This latest eruption is Fuego’s biggest explosion for more than forty years.

Lava flows reached temperatures of 1,300 degrees fahrenheit (700 celsius), according to Eddy Sanchez of Guatemala’s seismology and volcanology institute.

Officials have said warned the death toll is likely to rise.

Guatemala volcano eruption MAP: How far is Fuego from Guatemala City? Is it still erupting?

Fuego lies about 27 miles (44 kilometres) west of Guatemala City and is one of the most active volcanoes in the central American country.

The stratovolcano has been erupting since the Spanish conquest but huge eruptions are generally rare.

Fuego erupted for a second time on Monday, with weaker explosions being recorded earlier today by the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology of Guatemala.

The latest activity is located mostly on the far side of the volcano, facing the Pacific coast.

Guatemala City, the country’s capital, is home to just under three million people and sits in the south-central part of Guatemala.

Suffocating ash temporarily forced the city’s international airport to close, as ash plumes shot 6.2 miles high into the sky.

Ash also rained down on the nearby areas of Sacatepequez, Chimaltenango and Escuintla.

The popular tourist destination of Antigua, which sits 16km (9.9 miles) east of Fuego, was also hit.

Search parties are using heavy machinery and shovels in a bid to locate survivors.

Around two million people are said to have been impacted by Fuego’s latest eruptions, with temporary shelters set up for 2,265 evacuees.

Officials say they believe other villages may also have been buried alive.

Sergio Cabanas, the general secretary of Guatemala's CONRED national disaster management agency, said on the radio: “It's a river of lava that overflowed its banks and affected the El Rodeo village.

“There are injured, burned and dead people.”

Sergio Cabanas from Guatemala’s national disaster agency Conred said helicopters had rescued 10 people hit by ash, mud or lava.