Death toll rises to 69 in eruption of Guatemala's Volcán de Fuego; many victims hard to

The death toll in the eruption of Guatemala’s “volcano of fire” rose to at least 69 as distraught families searched for their relatives in makeshift morgues.

The Volcán de Fuego erupted about 27 miles from Guatemala City on Sunday. It is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America.

Mourners cried over lined-up caskets in the main park of the San Juan Alotenango community on Monday before rescuers hampered by a lack of electricity stopped their search for the night.

Guatemala’s national disaster agency, CONRED, put the death toll at 69. Officials said the intense heat of the volcanic debris only allowed rescuers to identify 17 bodies, and others were unrecognizable.

“It is very difficult for us to identify them because some of the dead lost their features or their fingerprints,” said Fanuel Garcia, director of the National Institute of Forensic Sciences.

More: Scores killed as Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupts

More: A 'hot avalanche' of volcanic ash and rock killed dozens of people in Guatemala

He said authorities would attempt other methods including taking DNA samples to identify the bodies.

In the city of Escuintla, about 19 miles from the volcano, family members hunted for their relatives among the dead at a makeshift morgue.

Francisco Quiche, a 46-year-old welder, evacuated the badly hit village of El Rodeo  with his family before returning to look for his son and daughter-in-law.  He told Reuters he looked through a hole in the wall of his son’s home and saw his son’s body.

“We had time to leave, thank God, but I am very sorry for the loss of my son and my daughter in law,” he said, weeping.

“My son was just 22 years old, the same as my daughter-in-law, who was expecting a baby,” Quiche told Reuters.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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