At least 157 people have reportedly died in mudslides in Kencho Shacha Gozdi, a remote part of Ethiopia that has been hit with severe rainfall. Local authorities has said on Tuesday that many of the deaths were as a result of some of the deceased trying to rescue survivors of an earlier mudslide.
Dagmawi Ayele, a local administrator, had revealed that young children and pregnant women were among the victims of the mudslides in that district of southern Ethiopia, said
Kassahun Abayneh, the head of the Gofa Zone communications office had said that the death toll sharply increased from 55 on Monday evening to 157 on Tuesday morning as the search operations persisted in the area.
Note that Gofa Zone is the administrative area where the mudslides happened.
Markos Melese, another Gofa official had said that unfortunately, a lot of people remained unaccounted for among the group that was covered by mud while trying to rescue others.
Landslides are common during Ethiopia’s rainy season, which started in July and is expected to last until mid-September.
What They’re Saying
Melese, the director of the disaster response agency in Gofa Zone had said; “We are still searching for the missing.”
“There are children who are hugging corpses, having lost their entire family, including mother, father, brother and sister, due to the accident.” he finished.
