Search for hundreds missing after deadly landslides in Ethiopia

On July 27, 2024, 6:19 AM

Search teams were digging at the site of deadly landslides in southern Ethiopia as the death toll rose to 257, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The first landslide in Gofa Zone was triggered by heavy rains on Sunday and Monday, and the second engulfed those who had gathered to rescue people.

OCHA said the death toll could rise to as many as 500 and more than 15,000 affected people need to be evacuated from the area.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is expected to visit the remote area on Friday.

Images from the site showed residents standing over bodies wrapped in shrouds as more victims were pulled from the muddy earth. Many people were using hand shovels and even their bare hands.

Landslides are common during Ethiopia’s rainy reason, which started in July and is expected to last until mid-September.

Rescuers are pressing on with the grim search for bodies and survivors in the stricken locality of Kencho Shacha Gozdi, with crowds of distraught locals digging through the mud, often using just their bare hands and shovels. [Michele Spatari/AFP]

An injured woman sits on the ground as residents and volunteers dig in the mud in search for bodies. [Michele Spatari/AFP]

Officials said most of the victims were buried when they rushed to help after the first landslide, which followed heavy rains on Sunday in the area. [Michele Spatari/AFP]

Hundreds of people combed through red mud at the scene of the disaster in the Kencho Shacha locality, searching for survivors of the deadliest landslide recorded in Africa’s second most populous country. [Michele Spatari/AFP]

The deaths from the twin landslides rose to 257, but the final toll is expected to be 500, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). [Michele Spatari/AFP]

Relatives mourn the death of a family member outside their house close to the scene of the landslides. [Michele Spatari/AFP]

The soil in southern Ethiopia has been saturated by seasonal rains, making the area more prone to landslides. Rains from April to early May caused flooding and mass displacement, according to OCHA. [Michele Spatari/AFP]

The flooding and landslides occurred even as other parts of the country are facing severe drought, which has prompted traditional herding communities to explore alternative food production methods. [Michele Spatari/AFP]

More than 21 million people, or about 18 percent of the population, rely on humanitarian aid in Ethiopia as a result of conflict, flooding, drought and other natural disasters. [Michele Spatari/AFP]

Story By Aljazeera