'Hectic' Moment Hiker Is Forced to Evacuate as Volcano Erupts Goes Viral

A video capturing the nerve-wracking moment hikers in Guatemala were evacuated on Sunday from the Acatenango volcano as the Volcán de Fuego erupted nearby has gone viral on TikTok.

The clip was shared by @keitoswan, one of the hikers, and has amassed over 208,000 views since it was posted on March 12.

A note overlaid on the clip says "POV [point of view]: You hike Acatenango and Fuego starts erupting and you're forced to evacuate down the mountain!"

The hiker says in the clip, "We're evacuating the volcano in 20 minutes," as the footage shows what appears to be fiery lava spewing out from the Volcán de Fuego (Volcano of Fire) in the distance.

"So, yea, it's happening," he continues, as the footage shows a row of hikers, their headlights glowing amid a pitch-black landscape, walking down the mountain with the Fuego volcano erupting nearby.

@keitoswan

Watching Volcán de Fuego erupt from Acatenango is something you don’t just see—you feel it. The ground trembles beneath your feet, a deep roar cuts through the silence, and then—an explosion of fire and ash against the night sky. Sparks rain down the slopes, glowing like embers in the darkness, a reminder that nature isn’t just beautiful—it’s alive, unpredictable, and untouchable. No photo can do it justice, but some moments don’t need to be captured—just lived. #acatenango #acatenangovolcano #fuegovolcano #guatemala #antigua #volcano #natgeo #nationalgeographic

♬ original sound - keitoswan

According to the poster, around 50 or 60 people were on the hike, which took about four hours up the mountain and about two and a half hours down.

The volcano "has been dormant for two months and it is going off and we're worried about the black smoke coming off of it, it's really toxic and it's moving into us," the poster said, adding it's "kinda crazy."

The Acatenango volcano overlooks Antigua, Guatemala, approximately 15 kilometers northeast of the summit. The active Fuego volcano is located nearby, around three kilometers south.

Guatemala's National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology, and Hydrology volcanic surveillance network reported a "significant increase in the eruption of the Fuego volcano, which is spewing a mix of ash, rocks, and hot gases," the United States Embassy in Guatemala warned on Sunday.

"Due to current eruption activity and the elevated danger of injury, access to Acatenango volcano has been suspended, and access to Fuego's crater and the area called 'El Camellon' is forbidden," the embassy said.

Nearly 300 families have been evacuated, while another 30,000 people in the area could be at risk due to the erupting volcano, which is around 33 miles from Guatemala City, the country's capital, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

"Eruptions at Fuego have become more mafic with time, and most historical activity has produced basaltic rocks. Frequent vigorous historical eruptions have been recorded since the onset of the Spanish era in 1524, and have produced major ashfalls, along with occasional pyroclastic flows and lava flows," notes the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.

'Insane'

A caption shared with the post says: "Watching Volcán de Fuego erupt from Acatenango is something you don't just see—you feel it. The ground trembles beneath your feet, a deep roar cuts through the silence, and then—an explosion of fire and ash against the night sky."

The caption continues: "Sparks rain down the slopes, glowing like embers in the darkness, a reminder that nature isn't just beautiful—it's alive, unpredictable, and untouchable. No photo can do it justice, but some moments don't need to be captured—just lived."

The evacuation scene in the viral clip blew away viewers on TikTok.

A stock image of a view of Guatemala's Volcán de Fuego erupting as seen from the Acatenango volcano. A stock image of a view of Guatemala's Volcán de Fuego erupting as seen from the Acatenango volcano. iStock / Getty Images Plus

"From climbing a mountain to escaping the explosion," TikToker called No soy Hector commented. The original poster replied, "Kinda hectic."

User @dnacustomtravels said it was "Insane!!!"

"I can't imagine hiking down in the pitch black! So crazy I was wondering what the hikers who were up there March 9th had to do," user 1717 commented.

TikToker @kukulkan92 called the eruption and evacuation something that "Once in a lifetime you experience."

Newsweek reached out to the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.

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https://www.newsweek.com/guatemala-fuego-volcano-erupts-hikers-evacuated-acatenango-tiktok-2044310