After Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire erupted June 3, sending a fast-moving flow of superheated ash, rock and debris into villages, AP staffers sprang into action. Over the next week, they worked around the clock in difficult and often-perilous conditions to produce all-formats dispatches from the scene and from shelters and funerals. They told the stories of people who had lost dozens of family members in the explosion, authorities’ search for survivors and victims, and relatives’ own return to homes buried up to the rooftops in ash to dig, in many cases with their own hands.
For scoring numerous exclusives that included highly detailed drone video of the disaster and spectacular photos and video, Guatemala-based journalist Sonia Perez, Mexico City-based reporter Mark Stevenson, Bogota camera operator Marko Alvarez, Guatemala photographer Moises Castillo and Peru-based senior photographer Rodrigo Abd have earned the Beat of the Week.
Once a lush green area, the eruption scene became a moonscape of ash, rock and debris. The journalists faced dangers as steam and smoke rose from holes in the terrain, a sign of superheated temperatures remaining below the crust. Continuing activity periodically sent dangerous flows down the volcano’s slopes, prompting multiple suspensions of search efforts and evacuations of the area.
At least 110 people have died in the disaster, and another 200 are listed as missing after nearly two weeks.
Visiting homes buried in ash, AP’s team told the stories of entire families who died or disappeared and of grieving residents left to start over with nothing. The journalists examined why the destroyed village of San Miguel Los Lotes was ever built in the first place, in the path of a gully that channeled the volcano's deadly flows in its direction.
They also looked at another volcano nearby that had been oozing lava the same week – where residents say they are aware of the danger but are unwilling to go elsewhere because the economic lifeblood of the town involves guiding tourists up to see the molten rock.
The AP held the No. 1 spot for video usage by clients throughout the coverage.
Perez used her contacts to secure exclusive access to a makeshift morgue in a warehouse in the city of Escuintla, where AP journalists were the only ones allowed to witness the work of forensic experts as they catalogued and performed autopsies on the charred bodies.
Every day the AP held the No. 1 spot for video usage by clients, and on most days most of the top 10 slots. The AP moved video on the first day four full hours ahead of Reuters, and was the first to send aerial video. We also established the first live shot and maintained it daily throughout the coverage, including exclusive live images of families digging through the ash. Further, AP staffers secured before-and-after satellite photos of two places overrun by the disaster. Reinforcing the video team was stringer Sergio Alfaro.
Bryan Rivera cries after looking at the remains of his house, after his family went missing during the Volcan de Fuego (Volcano of Fire) eruption, in San Miguel Los Lotes, June 7, 2018. Guatemala's national disaster agency temporarily suspended search and rescue efforts, saying weather and still-hot volcanic material made it dangerous for the rescuers.
AP Photo / Moises Castillo
Volcan de Fuego blows outs a thick cloud of ash, seen from San Juan Alotenango, Guatemala, June 8, 2018, five days after it erupted violently, sending ash, mud, lava and gasses into rural communities.
AP Photo / Moises Castillo
Angelica Maria Alvarez rests, exhausted inside her home destroyed by the eruption of the the Volcan de Fuego in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, June 14, 2018. Alvarez was still searching for the remains of more than 10 family members, including her husband and two daughters.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A firefighter carries the body of a child recovered near the Volcan de Fuego in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 4, 2018, one day after a fiery eruption that sent ash, mud and lava into rural communities, killing more than 100.
AP Photo / Oliver de Ros
A recovery worker removes a bone from a home buried by the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, June 14, 2018. About 200 people were listed as missing and authorities were working to identify some of the recovered bodies.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Noe Cruz, a member of a Mexican rescue team, right, prays as he hold remains of the Esqueque Iglesias family, killed by the Volcan de Fuego eruption, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, June 13, 2018.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A kitchen blanketed in volcanic ash spewed by the Volcan de Fuego, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, June 11, 2018.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Forks and spoons are coated with volcanic ash spewed by the Volcan de Fuego, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, June 9, 2018.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Journalists rest in the path of destruction left by the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, June 13, 2018.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A woman embraces Francisca Nij, right, who mourns the death of her mother Maritza Nij Ramos Davila, 40, during the family’s wake in Alotenango, Guatemala, June 7, 2018. Guatemalan prosecutors ordered an investigation into whether evacuation protocols were followed properly in the deadly volcanic eruption, which left many residents with little or no time to evacuate.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Rescue workers and relatives remove the remains of people killed in the Volcan de Fuego eruption, during search and recovery efforts in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, June 11, 2018.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Eufemia Garcia Ixpata shows journalists a refrigerator holding what she believes are the bones of her brother-in-law, found in one of her family’s homes after the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, June 12, 2018.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A dead cow lies in the disaster zone near the Volcan de Fuego in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 5, 2018.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A rescue worker carries a flock of farm birds rescued from homes destroyed by the Volcan de Fuego in El Rodeo, Guatemala, June 6, 2018. Three days after the volcano erupted, authorities said the window was closing on finding anyone else alive in the devastation.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Firefighters and police are forced to abandon a search and rescue effort as the Volcan de Fuego continued to spew smoke and ash in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 4, 2018.
AP Photo / Oliver de Ros
Volcan de Fuego blows a thick cloud of ash, seen from Alotenango, Guatemala, as it erupted violently, June 3, 2018.
AP Photo / Santiago Billy
The body of a victim is covered in volcanic ash spewed by the Volcan de Fuego in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 4, 2018. Rescuers struggled to reach people where homes and roads were charred and blanketed with ash.
AP PHOTO / LUIS SOTO
A resident cradles his dog after rescuing him near the Volcan de Fuego in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 4, 2018, one day after the volcano erupted, killing more than 100 in rural communities.
AP Photo / Luis Soto
Rescue workers search structures in the ash-covered hamlet of El Rodeo, in Escuintla, Guatemala, June 5, 2018.
AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A rescuer looks for bodies in the lahar devastated area, close to where the Las Lajas bridge had stood, after the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego, in El Rodeo, Guatemala, June 14, 2018.
AP Photo / Luis Soto
Stringer photographer Luis Soto was first on the scene for AP and stayed throughout. He was quickly joined by Castillo and Abd, as well as fellow stringers Oliver de Ros and Santiago Billy. To date, photo downloads stand at 7,100 – well above the numbers for a typical top story over the course of a week. Total client usage of video for the week was an amazing 12,124. Text stories also received wide use, including by major newspapers such as the Washington Post.
For their impressive efforts, Perez, Stevenson, Alvarez, Castillo, Abd and Soto share this week’s Beat of the Week award.