AP photojournalist portrays volcano’s devastation

They call it the Volcano of Fire, one of the most active volcanoes in the Americas, frequently spewing ash and gas across a swath of Guatemala west of the capital. On June 3, the mountain erupted with a fury not seen in more than a century, exploding with 1,300-degree molten rocks and black clouds of ash that smothered villages and buried at least 194 people alive. An additional 234 are missing.

Rodrigo Abd was among the Associated Press photojournalists who arrived on the scene. As he covered the news, he considered how to capture the sweep of the volcano’s destructive power and the magnitude of the human drama that unfolded in minutes. How to document the tragedy – of lives and a landscape obliterated – on a piece of 35mm film?

Abd decided that the panoramic format was necessary to tell this story of annihilation. Black and white film would best show ash-encased villages such as San Miguel Los Lotes.

Peering through his lens, and through clouds of hot ash, he found Elmer Vazquez searching for his wife and five children where he thought the family home had been. The farmer looked destroyed as he climbed into pits dug by a backhoe whenever he saw human remains or bits of torn clothing that could have belonged to his family.

In a makeshift morgue, dozens of victims’ bodies wrapped in white bags formed a kind of silent corridor that ended with two exhausted forensic doctors taking a break after days and nights of continuous work.

Outside the morgue, anxious relatives waited for the results of DNA tests to see if their loved ones were among those inside, while others prepared to hold dignified burials in the town cemetery. (AP)

(AP) In this June 13, 2018 file photo, steam rises from the terrain in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala devastated by an eruption of the Volcano of Fire, pictured in the background. On June 3, the mountain erupted with a fury not seen in more than a century. (Inset top): In this June 10, 2018 photo, residents walk towards the cemetery carrying the coffins that contain the remains of residents who died in the Volcano of Fire eruption. (Inset above): Inthis June 13, 2018 photo, Marlene Vazquez (right), sits next to her cousin Silas Vazquez, with a portrait of their cousins who were killed in the Volcano of Fire eruption.