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PortugueseIsraeli doctors arrived in Guatemala with unique treatments to save the lives of Volcan de Fuego victims.
By: United with Israel Staff
A team of doctors sent by the state of Israel arrived in Guatemala on Friday to help provide aid to the victims of the Volcan de Fuego (“volcano of fire”), which has killed over 110 people since it erupted last weekend and has left about 200 missing.
After a briefing at the Israeli embassy, the doctors then began work at the San Juan de Dios hospital and at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City.
Israel’s ambassador to the country Matty Cohen accompanied the delegation of Israeli doctors, which also visited San Miguel Los Lotes, one of the towns most affected by the eruption
In one instance the Israeli doctors treated a 24-year-old woman who was suffering from septic shock and burns and lava particles in her lungs.
In another case, doctors used a unique Israeli-developed enzyme to treat 70-year-old Pascual P.’s severe burns.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted Saturday, “On Wednesday, I promised Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales that I would send Israeli doctors to help those injured from the devastating volcanic eruption in his country. The Israeli delegation arrived the next day.”
“Our doctors and paramedics are saving lives. I’m proud of them!” he added.
Following the eruption, Israel immediately rushed a substantial amount of aid to Guatemala, including food, medication and blankets.
Israel is maintaining contact with the Guatemalan government and will send further support as required, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.
“We follow with worry the eruption of the Fuego volcano in Guatemala. Our hearts go to the victims and their families. From Israel we extend solidarity and friendship,” MFA spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
The Volcan de Fuego exploded in a hail of ash and molten rock last Sunday, blanketing nearby villages in heavy ash and sending lava flows down the mountain’s flank.
On Saturday, the volcano released a flow of burning sediment and rock, causing authorities to order new preventative evacuations.
Guatemala’s seismology and volcanology institute said the new lahar — a flow of mud, debris, water and pyroclastic material — was fed by rains and tore down trees as it swept through ravines and gullies.
Later Saturday, a rise in the Panaleon River caused by the new outflow led authorities to evacuate 72 people from the community of Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa.
Official search efforts for the missing were suspended for the third straight day Saturday amid dangerous conditions. But in places like San Miguel Los Lotes families and volunteers continued the search.
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