Guatemala City, June 9 (RHC)-- Dangerous flows of lava, ash and toxic gases poured down several canyons below the crater of Guatemala's Fuego volcano Friday, as a new eruption sent pyroclastic material and ash into nearby communities and prompted a new round of evacuations of rescue workers and nearby villages.

Guatemalan officials evacuated the zones around the volcano hoping to avoid further casualties.  "At this time, the National Civil Police is evacuating the people located in the areas surrounding the mountain and the village of El Rodeo due to the fact that we have -- as you can see -- a lot of activity at Fuego Volcano and you can see a lot of pyroclastic material coming down, which puts the lives of everyone who is in the area at risk because you could have a massive quantity of material that could come all the way to where we are now," according to Pablo Castillo, a Guatemalan Police spokesman.

Activity from the volcano has left the Central American country reeling after from a series of devastating eruptions killed at least 109 persons.  Another 197 reported missing while over 12,000 have been displaced and 1.7 million have been affected by the natural disaster.

Volcan de Fuego, which means "Volcano of Fire" in Spanish, lies about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of the capital, Guatemala City.