Death toll from Ethiopian landslides rises to nearly 230 as desperate search continues in southern Gofa region

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Mudslides triggered by heavy rains in a remote part of Ethiopia have killed at least 229 people, including many who were trying to rescue survivors, local authorities said on Tuesday, with the prime minister calling it a “terrible loss.”

The victims in Kencho Shacha Gozdi district in southern Ethiopia included young children and pregnant women, said Dagmawi Ayele, a local administrator, adding that at least five people had been recovered alive.

The death toll has risen sharply from the initial estimate of 55 late Monday night. Search operations in the area continued, said Kassahun Abayneh, head of the communications office in Gofa zone, the administrative area where the landslides occurred.

Ethiopia’s ruling party expressed its sadness over the disaster in a statement. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement on Facebook that he was “deeply saddened by this terrible loss.”

The federal disaster prevention task force has been deployed to assist in search and rescue efforts, Abiy’s statement said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were still missing.

Many victims were buried on Monday as rescue workers searched the steep terrain for survivors of another landslide the previous day. Markos Melese, director of the civil protection agency in the Gofa zone, said many rescue workers were still missing.

“There are children hugging corpses because they have lost their entire family, their mother, their father, their brother and their sister,” he said.

Some women moaned as rescue workers tried to dig through the thick mud with shovels.

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

Deadly landslides are common across the East African region, from Uganda’s mountainous east to the highlands of central Kenya. In April, at least 45 people were killed. were killed in the Rift Valley in Kenya region when flash floods and a landslide destroyed homes and closed a main road.