Ethiopian rescuers were racing against time on Wednesday to find survivors after devastating landslides in a remote area in the country’s south killed at least 229 people.
Humanitarian agencies were also scrambling to rush emergency relief aid to the stricken community after the deadliest such incident recorded in Ethiopia, a country highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters.
Local residents have been using shovels and their bare hands to dig through the vast mounds of mud to hunt for victims and survivors of Monday’s tragedy in Kencho, a hard-to-access locality hundreds of kilometers from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
So far, 148 men and 81 women are confirmed to have died after the disaster struck in the remote and mountainous area, according to the Gofa Zone Communications Affairs Department which covers the Kencho locality, said Tuesday.
“The search for survivors is ongoing and is currently being supported by drones operated by experts from the Information Network Security Administration (INSA),” Firaol Bekele, early warning director at the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC) told AFP Wednesday.
“The government is addressing urgent needs for food, water, medicine and shelter,” he said.
Officials have said that most of the victims were buried after they rushed to help other residents hit by a first landslide following heavy rains Sunday.
The government-owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation had reported Tuesday that five people had been pulled out alive from the mud and were receiving treatment at medical facilities.
The U.N.’s humanitarian response agency OCHA said more than 14,000 people had been affected in the hard-to-access area, which is roughly 450 kilometers (270 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa, about a 10-hour drive.
Children and pregnant women affected
“OCHA-coordinated inter-agency team reached the area last night. Partners ready to deliver critical supplies,” the agency said on X on Wednesday.
A U.N. source told AFP that about 125 people had been displaced and that the 14,000, including 5,000 pregnant or lactating women and 1,300 children needed to be evacuated fast because of the risk of another landslide.
Millions of people rely on humanitarian aid in Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, as a result of conflict and natural disasters such as flooding and drought.
“I am deeply saddened by this terrible loss,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had said on X on Tuesday in his first reaction to the calamity.
“Following the accident, the Federal Disaster Prevention Task Force has been deployed to the area and is working to reduce the impact of the disaster.”
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian, sent a message of condolence on X and said a WHO team was being deployed to support immediate health needs.
African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat also posted a statement on X, saying “our hearts and prayers” were with the families of the victims.
The U.S. embassy also sent its condolences in a message on X and said the government via its USAID agency was in touch with humanitarian partners on the ground.
Türkiye sends condolences
Türkiye also extended condolences to Ethiopia on Tuesday over the landslide deaths.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it is “saddened” by the loss of lives in a statement. “We extend our condolences and sympathies to the people of Ethiopia.”
