6 Guatemalan children are in the US for medical treatment

Six children hurt in Guatemala’s biggest volcano eruption in four decades are now in the United States for medical treatment. They were airlifted overnight, as rescuers in their country continued their desperate search for survivors. 

A U.S. Air Force plane carrying six critically injured Guatemalan children landed in Galveston, Texas early this morning. 

The children were hurt following Sunday’s eruption of Guatemala’s “volcano of fire” and are now receiving treatment at Shriner’s Hospital for Children.  

Doctors say their road to recovery will be a long one. In Guatemala, the government  has suspended the search for at least 200 people still missing. More than 72 hours after the eruption, officials say the chances of finding survivors are slim.

Sunday’s eruption buried villages under several feet of super heated ash and debris. The satellite imagery shows the town of San Pedro Los Lotes in February and after the eruption.

This man lost his home. Some of his family members are still missing. He said he saw a sea of lava, destroying people in its path and tearing homes apart. Now authorities are warning of the potential for even more toxic lava flows and are ordering more evacuations.

So far, at least 12,000 people have already fled their villages. Guatemalans are now burying their dead as the volcano of fire continues to threaten those who survived.