Ecuador volcano death toll rises to five
A total of five people have now died due to the reactivation of the Tungurahua Volcano in central Ecuador on early Thursday, said Juan Salazar, the mayor of Penipe.

So far, 13 people have been wounded, 20,000 hectares of crops have been damaged by lava and ash.

Salazar said four of the bodies had not been recovered because they were buried under rubble. Some 3,200 people had been evacuated from Penipe, 135 km south of Ecuador's capital Quito, to emergency hostels.

"The situation is dramatic. Everything has been razed to the ground. In one village 12 houses are still burning," he said.

Ambato, the capital of Tungurahua, was coated in three centimeters of ash overnight, and a centimeter of ash has landed in the following provinces: Guayas, Manabi, Bolivar, Los Rios, Chimborazo and Tungurahua.

Also on Thursday, the Red Cross has called for donations of breathing equipment, protective goggles, and medicine to protect citizens, adding that at least 50 people have been hospitalized with burns.