- Landslides in Southern Ethiopia kill more than 50
- The landslides came after heavy rains in the remote, mountainous area
- Rescue efforts are ongoing, with authorities fearing the death toll may rise
Landslides in Southern Ethiopia kill more than 50
Local officials have confirmed that over 50 people have died due to landslides in southern Ethiopia’s Gofa zone. The tragic incidents occurred between Sunday evening and Monday morning following heavy rains in the remote, mountainous area.
Rescue efforts are ongoing, with authorities fearing the death toll may rise. Dramatic footage shows hundreds of locals digging through the debris, desperately searching for survivors beneath the collapsed hillside and exposed red earth.
Meskir Mitku, the Gofa zone’s general administrator, reported that the victims included women, children, and police officers. According to Kassahun Abayneh, a government spokesperson for the Gofa district, a second landslide struck on Monday morning while people, including police, were aiding victims of the first landslide. This second landslide caused additional fatalities.
Located around 320km (199 miles) southwest of Addis Ababa, Gofa has recently experienced particularly heavy rains and flooding, as noted by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Such extreme weather events are worsened by climate change, with a warming atmosphere making severe rainfall more frequent.
Ethiopia has a history of devastating landslides and floods. As global temperatures continue to rise, driven by insufficient reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the risk of such natural disasters is likely to increase.