Children among 229 killed in Ethiopia mudslide

‘We are still digging’ says local rescuer after double tragedy

Hundreds of people gather at the site of a mudslide in Gofa, southern Ethiopia (Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department)

At least 229 people have been killed in mudslides in a remote part of Ethiopia following heavy rainfall.

The first landslide buried victims in Gofa, southern Ethiopia, before a second engulfed others who had gathered to help.

“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, told Reuters. “We are still digging.”

Young children and pregnant women were among the victims, said Dagmawi Ayele, a local administrator.

At least five people have been pulled alive from the mud, Mr Ayele added.

“There are children who are hugging corpses, having lost their entire family, including mother, father, brother and sister, due to the accident,” he said.

Footage shared by the local administration showed people digging up bodies with shovels and bare hands.

“The death toll surged after the people who came to rescue also got trapped,” said another local administrator, Misikir Mitiku. “It is a very sad incident.”

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

“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 chair Moussa Faki Mahamat wrote on the social media platform X.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian, said he was thinking of all the families affected and that a WHO team had been sent to support immediate health needs.

AP and Reuters contributed to this report.