Over 100 people killed in landslides in Ethiopia | Weather News

Residents are seen digging in the dirt with their bare hands in a remote mountain region to search for survivors.

The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia has risen to over 100, government officials said, but warned that the number could rise further.

The first landslide, triggered by heavy rains in a remote region of the Gofa zone, occurred on Monday and was followed by a second that buried people who had gathered to help, state officials said on Tuesday.

At least 157 bodies have been recovered from two villages, Markos Melese, zone head of the national disaster management agency in Gofa, told Reuters by telephone, adding that the search was still ongoing and “there are bodies that have yet to be recovered.”

Citing Gofa officials, AFP news agency reported at least 146 deaths, while Associated Press news agency said the death toll had risen from 55 to 157.

“Initially, there were three families buried by the landslide. We are still searching for bodies. But the death toll is even higher after the people who came to the rescue were also trapped,” said district administrator Misikir Mitiku.

The images showed people digging in the red earth with their bare hands. Mitiku said earthmoving machines would be needed for the recovery work.

Gofa is part of the state known as the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) and is located about 320 km southwest of the capital Addis Ababa.

Parliamentarian Kemal Hashi Mohamoud told Al Jazeera from Addis Ababa that the second landslide occurred “a few minutes” after the first. “People are preparing emergency shelters and giving them food,” he said.

Dagmawi Ayele, a local administrator, told AP that the victims included children and pregnant women.

Social media images posted by state-run media company Fana Broadcasting Corporate showed hundreds of people digging in the earth with their hands near the devastating scene of churning up earth.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the state was particularly hard hit by the short seasonal rains between April and May, which caused flooding and mass displacement.

In May, it was reported that “over 19,000 people in several areas were affected by the floods, over a thousand people were left homeless and livelihoods and infrastructure were destroyed.”

Landslides have occurred in the southern region before; in 2018, at least 32 people were killed in two separate incidents within a week.

The floods and landslides came as other parts of the country are suffering from severe drought, prompting traditional pastoral communities to seek alternative methods of food production.

The UN reports that millions of people in the country are suffering from malnutrition due to recent climate-related challenges.