ALOTENANGO, Guatemala — First the fury of the eruption, then the waiting.

Two days after the Fuego volcano exploded in an undulating tower of ash, sending burning lava, rocks and gas cascading down its slopes, those who escaped waited on Tuesday for news of those they could not save.

Crammed into shelters, they waited to hear if the bodies of hundreds of their missing relatives had been found — and they waited to say goodbye.

A few families held funerals for loved ones, including Juan Fernando Galindo Hurtarte, the local representative for the government’s natural disaster commission, who was overtaken by the ash as he warned residents to evacuate before the eruption.