Landslide kills over 200 in southern Ethiopia

More than 200 people died in a landslide on Monday after heavy rains in a hard-to-reach area of ​​the regional state of Southern Ethiopia, where of humanitarian aid begins à to be routed.

“The information provided so far shows 148 men and 81 women, or a total of 229 people, who lost their lives” in this disaster, wrote in a press release released Tuesday the communication service of the administrative zone of Gofa , where the scene of the disaster is located.

This assessment remains provisional, as relief operations continue. A previous report put around 150 dead.

Earlier Tuesday, the official Ethiopian radio and television EBC, citing the head of this area, indicated that five survivors had been found, without specifying when.

Firaol Bekele, the director of the Early Warning Division at the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC), explained to AFP that prolonged rainfall had led to a first landslide on Monday morning, followed by a second which buried those who went to help the first victims.

“On Sunday evening, there was heavy rain that lasted for a long time… This heavy rain is the main cause of this devastating landslide,” he said.

< IMG Alt = "GOFA Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN" HTTPS://img-4.linternaute.com/50z-8npzbffwonu4lxcenfmhkw=/600x/smart/249286a2479b4a15b87d46a3132501 ute/62828193.jpg " />Photo released July 22, 2024 by the communications department of Gofa administrative zone in southwestern Ethiopia shows people at the scene of a landslide © Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN – –

“Initially, four houses were affected by the (first) landslide, then many people mobilized to save lives and they perished when the (new) landslide hit them submerged,” he added, specifying that residents and rescuers continued to search for survivors.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), more than 14,000 people were affected in this region located approximately 450 kilometers from Addis Ababa, approximately ten hours by road.

Humanitarian aid began to be sent there in trucks, particularly from the Ethiopian Red Cross.

“Agencies stand ready to provide essential supplies, including food, medical items, and water, sanitation and hygiene”, announced Ocha.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said late Tuesday afternoon that he was “deeply saddened by the death many citizens in a sudden landslide”.

– “Conducive area” –

Photo released July 22, 2024 by the communications department of Gofa administrative zone in southwestern Ethiopia shows people at the scene of a landslide © Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN – –

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The disaster occurred in the kebele (smallest administrative division) of Kencho, located in the Geze-Gofa woreda (district), a rural and hilly area.

This landslide is the deadliest so far publicly reported in Ethiopia, the second most populous country on the African continent (120 million inhabitants), located in the Horn of Africa.

An Ethiopian living in Nairobi, from a neighboring woreda and who did not wish to be identified, described the scene of the tragedy as “rural, isolated and mountainous. The soil there is not is not firm, so when there is heavy rain, it immediately sags and tumbles down.”

“The people in this area live below reliefs made barely habitable because of the cold,” he added. “This is not the first such disaster. Last year, more than 20 people were killed. Every rainy season, people die due to landslides and heavy rains in this area.”

“We know that this area is prone to catastrophic landslides due to the nature of its soil,” a phenomenon “exacerbated by heavy rains, and we have alerted the region about this,” confirmed Firaol Bekele.

Photo released July 22, 2024 by the communications department of Gofa administrative zone in southwestern Ethiopia shows people at the scene of a landslide © Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN – –

“A thorough analysis and scientific investigation are necessary to know the precise cause of this tragic landslide,” he added.

– Thick clay –

Photos published by the authorities of the Gofa region show a crowd gathered at the foot of a grassy hill, a large section of which has detached, taking away trees. We also see inhabitants, armed with simple shovels or hoes, or sometimes with their bare hands, trying to extract bodies from a one meter thick layer of reddish and sticky clay.

Others transport corpses covered with a tarpaulin or sheet on stretchers made from branches.

The regional state of Southern Ethiopia is one of the many areas affected by flooding in April and May in Ethiopia, during the “small” rainy season. The “long” rainy season began in June in this country.

Photo released July 22, 2024 by the communications department of Gofa administrative zone in southwestern Ethiopia shows people at the scene of a landslide © Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN – –

In May 2016, 41 people were killed in a landslide following heavy rains in the administrative zone of Wolaita, in the same regional state.

< p>The deadliest landslide in Africa was a mudslide that killed 1,141 people on August 14, 2017 in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.

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