Ethiopia declared three days of mourning after landslides in the country’s south killed 80 people, with officials saying many others remained missing and that heavy rain continued to disrupt search and recovery work in the affected area.
Speaker of the House of Peoples’ Representatives Tagesse Chafo said the mourning would begin Saturday, according to the government statement cited in the report. Officials said the landslides struck the Gamo Zone area on Tuesday and triggered amid heavy rains in the region.
Authorities recovered at least 80 bodies from the Gamo Zone area, and search and recovery efforts continued in the days afterward. Officials said the search for remaining victims had been hampered by heavy rain still pounding the area.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said the landslides displaced 3,461 people. Regional government communications head Hailemariam Tesfaye said the search for remaining victims was intensified as officials continued efforts on the ground.
The Government Communication Service said Thursday the government is mobilizing resources in coordination with regional authorities. The report also said donations from private citizens and business organizations were flowing into a fund announced by the regional government to provide relief items to those affected.
In neighboring Kenya, heavy rains and flash flooding have also caused deaths, with a toll that rose to 62 by Saturday, the report said. The Gamo Zone response comes as the rainy season continues in East Africa, and the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre said last month that the March–April–May rainy season has a 45% chance of above-average rainfall across much of the region, including Ethiopia.
As this story develops, MSI previously reported that landslides in southern Ethiopia killed at least 50 people and left more than 100 missing. Landslides in southern Ethiopia kill at least 50, 125 missing