Porni Banerjee | ২৪ জুলাই ২০২৪ ১৫ : ৩০Porni Banerjee

A dangerous landslide claimed the lives of at least 229 people in southern Ethiopia on Tuesday, making it one of the deadliest disasters in the country. The mishap took place after severely heavy rainfall induced the landslide.

As stated by local Communications Affairs Department, the disaster occurred in the Kencho-Shacha locality in the Gofa Zone that killed 148 men and 81 women. They added that search operation for people trapped underneath is vigorously ongoing and that the death count could increase.

The Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation had earlier informed that five people have been rescued alive from the mud and are currently receiving medical treatment.

Local administrator Dagemawi Ayele said that those killed were buried after they went to help the inhabitants of a house hit by the landslide.

“I don’t know when it will stop. We are still recovering bodies,” Markos Melese, head of the national disaster response agency in Gofa zone, said in a statement.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his deep sorrow over the sudden demise of hundreds of lives and said that federal officials have been pressed into service to minimise further worsening of the situation.

“We stand in strong solidarity with the people and Government of Ethiopia as rescue efforts continue to find the missing and assist the displaced,” African Union chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is an Ethiopean and the Director-General of World Health Organisation (WHO) informed that a WHO team had been deployed at the site to address the immediate health needs of the victims.

Ethiopia is highly prone to climatic disasters, including floods and torrential rainfall. The country is battered by seasonal rains every year between April and May that caused flooding and mass displacement.

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