Ethiopia had announced on Friday that there would be a three-day mourning period in the aftermath of the devastating landslide that occurred in the southern remote part of the country.
Over 250 persons had lost their lives in that incident.
Rescuers have continued the grim search for bodies in Kencho Shacha Gozdi, (a small locality in the area) while distraught survivors continue to bury those who perished in the disaster that has now been recorded as the deadliest landslide on record in the country.
A UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, had warned that the death toll could reach 500.
What They’re Saying:
Ethiopia’s parliament had said, that the mourning period would start from Saturday.
The period of remembrance would allow mourners “comfort to their relatives and all the people of our country,” the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation had said in a statement.
The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission also revealed that humanitarian aid and rehabilitation was “well under way” in the region, adding that a “structure for emergency disaster response coordination and integration” had been established, putting the number of people needing to be relocated at 6,000.
Aid had begun arriving in the manner of four trucks from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, according to OCHA.
OCHA also said that more than 15,000 people were in need of evacuation because of the risk of further landslides. This number included small children and pregnant women or new mothers.
Officials had reported that most of the victims who were buried had rushed to help after a first landslide, which had cone after the heavy rains on Sunday.
Meanwhile, international offers of condolences have flooded in, including from the African Union, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the World Health Organization chief.
