Guatemala Volcano: Death toll reaches 99 - Video

Guatemala, June 07: At least 99 people were killed in the eruption of Guatemala's Fuego volcano, which buried several villages on its southern flank, authorities said Wednesday.

The National Forensic Sciences Agency said in a report that morgues had received the remains of 99 people killed as a result of the eruption.

So far only 28 of the dead have been identified, it said. The death toll had stood at 75 late Tuesday.

Some 200 people were still missing, amid fears of a new blowup of the 3,763-meter (12,346-foot) volcano.

Rescuers resumed the search today, and Associated Press reporters saw them recovering remains. But late in the afternoon, the country’s disaster agency announced it was suspending the search again because of flows of volcanic material and falling rain.

The super-heated debris that buried victims Sunday left many bodies unrecognizable. DNA testing and other methods will be required to identify them.

Thousands of people displaced by the eruption have sought refuge in shelters, many of them of with dead or missing loved ones and facing an uncertain future, unable to return to homes destroyed by the volcano.