Chinandega

Before he fled, Vanegas made headlines as Nicaragua’s “maratonista” — marathon man — by jogging through the streets of Managua, Leon and Chinandega to protest the autocratic rule of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo.

Its epicentre was 15 km south-west of Chinandega.

A doctor in the northwestern city of Chinandega said physicians were unable to obtain coronavirus tests outside government hospitals — and even those are strictly limited.

“It was a rapid eruption, a single big explosion and then the volcano spent some 30 minutes spewing gases,” said writer Jorge Lenín Duarte, a cultural promoter in Chinandega.

Video from the scene showed dramatically reduced visibility in Chinandega early Tuesday afternoon and the sound of cinders falling onto homes, cars and streets.