"I saw the children's bodies," he told me between sobs. "They were huddled together in the bed, like they were trying to hide from what was happening."

If Mr Rodriguez, who is 25, were a solitary case, it would be heartbreaking enough. But most of his neighbours in the village of El Rodeo have similar stories of grief. The village was almost entirely wiped off the map.

Why were so many people killed in the initial eruption?

Almost 200 people remain unaccounted for, said AFP news agency, quoting Guatemala's Disaster Relief Agency.

No evacuation alert was issued before the volcano erupted on Sunday, said the agency's chief, Sergio Cabañas.

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He added that local residents had received training in emergency procedures but were not able to implement them because the initial volcanic activity happened too fast.

Sunday's blast generated pyroclastic flows - fast-moving mixtures of very hot gas and volcanic matter - which descended down the slopes, engulfing communities including El Rodeo and San Miguel Los Lotes.