Landslide in Southern Ethiopia Kills at Least 229 People, Deadliest Disaster in the Horn of Africa Nation
A devastating landslide in a remote area of southern Ethiopia has claimed the lives of at least 229 people, making it the deadliest such disaster recorded in the Horn of Africa nation. The tragedy occurred on Monday in the Kencho-Shacha locality in the Gofa Zone, where heavy rains had caused a massive landslide that buried many people.
Rescue efforts are underway, with local residents using shovels and their bare hands to search for survivors. According to images posted on social media by the local authority, crowds gathered at the site of the tragedy, with some people clawing through mounds of red dirt to try and find those trapped.
So far, 148 men and 81 women have been confirmed dead, with five people pulled alive from the mud and receiving treatment at medical facilities. The disaster struck on Monday, with local administrator Dagemawi Ayele saying that most of the victims were buried after they went to help local residents hit by a first landslide following heavy rains.
Among the victims were the locality’s administrator, teachers, health professionals, and agricultural professionals. Images posted by the Gofa authority showed residents carrying bodies of the dead on makeshift stretchers, some wrapped in plastic sheeting.
Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa with around 120 million people, is highly vulnerable to climate disasters including flooding and drought. The country’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, saying that the Federal Disaster Prevention Task Force has been deployed to the area to reduce the impact of the disaster.
The African Union Commission and the World Health Organization have also sent messages of condolence, with the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying that a team will be deployed to support immediate health needs. The area is hard to access, located roughly 450 kilometres from the capital Addis Ababa or about a 10-hour drive.
This is not the first time such a disaster has occurred in the region. An Ethiopian refugee living in Kenya, who is from a district located near the site, said that similar disasters have happened in the past, with more than 20 people killed in a similar disaster last year and many more in previous rainy seasons.
Disaster management official Firaol Bekele called for a “solid assessment and scientific investigation” into the cause of the landslide, saying that an integrated, study-based solution is needed to address the risk permanently, which may include relocating the population.
The tragedy is a stark reminder of the devastating impact of climate disasters on communities around the world.
