More than 200 people died in a landslide on Monday after heavy rains in a hard-to-reach area of the Southern Ethiopian regional state, where humanitarian aid is beginning to arrive.
“The information provided so far indicates that 148 men and 81 women, a total of 229 people, have lost their lives.” in this disaster, wrote in a statement released Tuesday the communication service of the administrative zone of Gofa, where the scene of the disaster is located.
This figure remains provisional, as rescue operations continue. A previous figure indicated around 150 deaths.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ethiopia’s state broadcaster EBC, citing the area’s chief, said five survivors had been found, without specifying when.
Firaol Bekele, director of the Early Warning Division at the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC), told AFP that prolonged rainfall had caused a first landslide on Monday morning, followed by a second that buried those who went to rescue 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”did he declare.
Photo released on July 22, 2024 by the Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department in southwestern Ethiopia shows people at the scene of a landslide / – / Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN/AFP
“Initially, four houses were affected by the (first) landslide, then many people mobilized to save lives and they died when the (new) landslide engulfed them”he added, saying residents and rescuers were continuing to search for survivors.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 14,000 people have been affected in this region located about 450 kilometers from Addis Ababa, about ten hours by road.
Humanitarian aid has started to be sent to the area in trucks, particularly from the Ethiopian Red Cross.
“Agencies stand ready to provide essential supplies, including food, medical items, and water, sanitation and hygiene support.”announced Ocha.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said late Tuesday afternoon “deeply saddened by the death of many citizens in a sudden landslide”.
“Proper zone”
Photo released on July 22, 2024 by the Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department in southwestern Ethiopia shows people at the scene of a landslide / – / Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN/AFP
The disaster occurred in Kencho kebele (smallest administrative division) in Geze-Gofa woreda (district), a rural and hilly area.
The 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, originally from a neighboring woreda and who did not wish to be identified, described the scene of the tragedy as “rural, isolated and mountainous. The ground there is not firm, so when there is heavy rain it immediately collapses and tumbles downhill”.
“The inhabitants of this area live below the reliefs made uninhabitable by the cold”he added. “This is not the first disaster of this type. 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 because of the nature of its soil.”a phenomenon “exacerbated by the heavy rains, and we have alerted the region about this”confirmed Firaol Bekele.
Photo released on July 22, 2024 by the Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department in southwestern Ethiopia shows people at the scene of a landslide / – / Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN/AFP
“A thorough analysis and scientific investigation are necessary to know the precise cause of this tragic landslide”he added.
Thick clay
Photos released by authorities in the Gofa region show a crowd gathered at the foot of a grassy hillside, a large section of which has broken away, taking with it trees. They also show residents, armed with simple shovels or hoes, and sometimes even bare hands, trying to extract bodies from a meter-thick layer of sticky reddish clay.
Others carry corpses covered with tarpaulin or sheets on stretchers made from branches.
The Southern Ethiopian Regional State was among the many areas affected by floods in April and May in Ethiopia, during the « petite » rainy season. The « longue » The rainy season began in June in this country.
Photo released on July 22, 2024 by the Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department in southwestern Ethiopia shows people at the scene of a landslide / – / Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department/ESN/AFP
In May 2016, 41 people were killed in a landslide following heavy rains in the Wolaita administrative area of the same regional state.
The deadliest landslide in Africa was a mudslide that killed 1,141 people on August 14, 2017 in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.
