Ethiopia landslides death toll rises to 257, could almost double: UN
Al Jazeera
UN humanitarian agency says more than 15,000 people need to be evacuated after deadly landslides hit on Monday.
Deaths caused by landslides in Ethiopia have risen to 257, but the final death toll is expected to be 500, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The UN agency released the figures on Thursday after the landslides in the mountainous Gofa zone in southern Ethiopia, the first triggered by heavy rains on Monday, the second engulfing those who had gathered to rescue people.
The revised death toll is an increase of 28 on figures provided by Ethiopia’s National Disaster Risk Management Commission on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people combed through red mud at the scene of the disaster in the Kencho Shacha locality, searching for survivors of the deadliest landslide recorded in Africa’s second most populous country.
“More than 15,000 affected people need to be evacuated,” OCHA said. The figures included at least 1,320 children as well as 5,293 pregnant women and new mothers.
