ESCUINTLA, Guatemala, June 6, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Guatemalan authorities said Thursday they were evacuating more than 500 people after Central America's most active volcano spewed gas and ash.

Residents were moved to shelters from communities near the Fuego volcano, located 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital Guatemala City.

"We prefer to leave rather than mourn the death of everyone in the village later," Celsa Perez, 25, told AFP.

The government suspended local school activities and closed a road linking the south of the country to the colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, disaster coordination agency Conred reported.

There have been several such mass evacuations in recent years because Fuego erupted, including in March of this year.

In 2018, 215 people were killed and a similar number left missing when rivers of lava poured down the volcano's slopes, devastating a village.