Landslides in Ethiopia have killed at least 229 people. It is unclear how many people are still missing

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Landslides triggered by heavy rains in a remote part of Ethiopia have killed at least 229 people, including many who were trying to rescue survivors, local authorities said Tuesday. The prime minister called the incident a “terrible loss.”

The victims in Kencho Shacha Gozdi district in southern Ethiopia included young children and pregnant women, said Dagmawi Ayele, a local administrator, adding that at least five people had been recovered alive.

The death toll has risen significantly from the original 55 reported late Monday evening. Search operations in the area continued, said Kassahun Abayneh, head of the communications office in the Gofa zone, the administrative area where the landslides occurred.

Ethiopia’s ruling party expressed its sadness over the disaster in a statement. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement on Facebook that he was “deeply saddened by this terrible loss.”

The federal disaster prevention task force has been deployed to assist in search and rescue efforts, Abiy’s statement said.

PHOTOGRAPHER NAME ADDED – In this photo released by the Gofa Zone Government Communications Department, hundreds of people are gathered at the site of a landslide in Kencho Shacha Gozdi district of the Gofa Zone in southern Ethiopia, Monday, July 22, 2024. At least 146 people have been killed in landslides in a remote part of Ethiopia hit by heavy rains, according to local authorities. (Isayas Churga/Gofa Zone Government Communications Department via AP)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Isayas Churga

It was not immediately clear how many people were still missing.

Many victims were buried on Monday as rescue workers searched the steep terrain for survivors of another landslide the previous day. Markos Melese, director of the civil protection agency in the Gofa zone, said many rescue workers were still missing.

“There are children hugging corpses because they have lost their entire family, including mother, father, brother and sister,” he said.

Some women moaned as rescue workers tried to dig through the thick mud with shovels.

Landslides are common during Ethiopia’s rainy season, which began in July and is expected to last until mid-September.

Deadly landslides are common in East Africa, from the mountains of eastern Uganda to the highlands of central Kenya. In April, at least 45 people were killed in Kenya’s Rift Valley region when flash floods and a landslide swept away houses and cut off a main road.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.