Ethiopia landslides death toll rises to 229

Search and rescue efforts continue after landslide in the Gofa region of southern Ethiopia on July 23, 2024. Photo / Getty Images

An Ethiopian official says 229 people have died in landslides in the country’s south following heavy rain.

The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia has jumped to 229 and could rise further as the search for survivors and casualties continues into a second day, a government official says.

Following heavy rain, a landslide buried people in Gofa zone in Southern Ethiopia regional state on Sunday night, then a second one engulfed others who had gathered to help on Monday morning.

“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.”

On Monday, an official said at least 50 people had died and children and police officers were among the dead.

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,” Gofa district administrator Misikir Mitiku said.

“It is a very sad incident.”

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he was deeply saddened by the terrible loss of life, and that federal officials had been deployed to reduce the effect of the disaster.

“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 Organisation, 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.