The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia has surged to 157, with the number expected to rise further, a government official reported on Tuesday. A landslide buried people in the Gofa zone of the Southern Ethiopia regional state, followed by a second landslide that engulfed others who had come to help on Monday morning, officials stated. The area presents significant challenges,” Markos Melese, head of the National Disaster Response agency in Gofa Zone, told Reuters over the phone. “We have recovered 157 bodies from two villages so far. We anticipate the number will increase.”On Monday, an official reported that at least 50 people had died, including children and police officers.

At least 229 people have died in mudslides in southern Ethiopia's Gofa Zone, authorities said Tuesday. "The death toll surged after the people who came to rescue also got trapped," said Gofa district administrator Misikir Mitiku. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian, said his agency also has dispatched a team to the site. "They had no clue that the land they were standing on was about to swallow them," he told the Times. "There are children who are hugging corpses, having lost their entire family, including mother, father, brother and sister," Markos Melese, director of the disaster response agency in Gofa Zone, told The Associated Press.

Addis Ababa: The death toll from a landslide in Ethiopia has risen to 55, local media reported on Tuesday. The deadly landslide occurred on Monday morning at around 10.00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) in southern Ethiopia’s Geze Gofa district, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported. Misikir Mitiku, the chief administrator of the district, said that more than 55 bodies, including women and children, have been found in the district, adding that the death toll could yet increase as rescue continues, Xinhua news agency reported. Ethiopia is in the midst of a rainy season which started in July and is expected to last until mid-September. Constant rains occasionally cause landslides in some parts of the East African country.

The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia has jumped to 229 and could rise further as the search for survivors and casualties continues into a second day, a government official says. Following heavy rain, a landslide buried people in Gofa zone in Southern Ethiopia regional state on Sunday night, then a second one engulfed others who had gathered to help on Monday morning. We are still recovering bodies," Markos Melese, head of the National Disaster Response agency in Gofa Zone, told Reuters by phone. On Monday an official said at least 50 people had died and children and police officers were among the dead. "The death toll surged after the people who came to rescue also got trapped," Gofa district administrator Misikir Mitiku said.

Two consecutive landslides in the Gofa zone of Ethiopia have killed at least 229, with bodies still being recovered. The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia has jumped to 229 and could rise further as the search for survivors and casualties continued into a second day, a government official said on Tuesday. Following heavy rain a landslide buried people in Gofa zone in Southern Ethiopia regional state on Sunday night, then a second one engulfed others who had gathered to help on Monday morning. We are still recovering bodies," Markos Melese, head of the National Disaster Response agency in Gofa Zone, told Reuters by phone. Gofa zone is roughly 450 kilometres from the capital Addis Ababa, a drive of about 10 hours, and located north of the Maze National Park.

At least 229 people have been killed after two landslides in as many days in Ethiopia, with young children and pregnant women reported to be among the dead, a government official has said. Some were killed as they tried to rescue people, local authorities said, in what the prime minister called a "terrible loss." The first landslide followed heavy rain on Sunday, before a second buried others who had gathered to help on Monday - when the number of dead stood at 50 people. We are still recovering bodies," said Markos Melese, director of the disaster response agency in Gofa Zone. Image: Pic: Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department /APDagmawi Ayele, a local administrator, said at least five people have been pulled out alive and pregnant women were killed with young children.

The first landslide struck the village in the Geze district between 8:30 and 9 a.m. on Monday, said Habtamu Fetena, who heads the local government’s emergency response. Nearly 300 people from two neighboring villages ran to the area to help and began digging through the mud by hand, he said Tuesday. Then about an hour later, without warning, more mud slid down the hillside above the village, and killed many of those trying to help. “They had no clue that the land they were standing on was about to swallow them,” Mr. Fetena said. The village hit by the landslides lies in a region that is increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including long droughts followed by strong storms and more frequent and intense rainfalls, experts said.

The head of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian, said he was thinking of all the families affected and that a WHO team had been sent to support immediate health needs.

CNN —The death toll from two landslides in a remote region of southern Ethiopia on Monday has risen to 229, according to local authorities. The communication affairs department of Gofa Zone said Tuesday that 148 males and 81 females had been killed. Ethiopia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, according to geological surveys. Southern Ethiopia has previously suffered devastating landslides that killed and displaced dozens of people. In May 2018, 45 people were killed in twin landslides that happened within hours of each other in the West Arsi, Sidama, and Gamo Gofa zones.

An Ethiopian refugee living in Kenya who is from a district near the disaster site described the area as rural, remote, and very mountainous, with weak soil that runs down to the ground below during heavy rains and landslides. He noted that similar disasters have occurred in the past, with more than 20 people killed last year and people dying almost every rainy season due to landslides and heavy rains in the area.The South Ethiopia state had already been affected by seasonal rains between April and early May, causing flooding and mass displacement, according to the UN's humanitarian response agency OCHA. In May, floods affected more than 19,000 people in several zones, displacing over 1,000 and causing damage to livelihoods and infrastructure.Previous landslides in Ethiopia include a 2016 incident in Wolaita, South Ethiopia, where 41 people were killed following heavy rains, and a 2017 disaster in the outskirts of Addis Ababa, where 113 people died when a mountain of garbage collapsed in a dump. The deadliest landslide in Africa occurred in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, in August 2017, claiming 1,141 lives. In February 2010, mudslides in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda killed more than 350 people.

Addis Ababa, July 23 (UNI) The death toll from Monday's landslide in southern Ethiopia has risen to 229, the local government said on Tuesday. The deadly landslide occurred on Monday morning at around 10:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) in southern Ethiopia's Geze Gofa District. The deaths include 148 males and 81 females, according to a statement issued by the Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department. As part of rescue efforts, the Ethiopian Red Cross Association and professionals from neighboring regions and zones are currently at the site, helping the victims. The deadly landslide occurred as Ethiopia is in the midst of a rainy season, which started in July and is expected to last until mid-September.

ADDIS ABABA: Humanitarian agencies were scrambling Tuesday to send desperately needed aid to a remote area of southern Ethiopia where a landslide has killed more than 200 people in the deadliest such disaster recorded in the Horn of Africa nation. Images published on social media by the Gofa authority showed residents carrying bodies on makeshift stretchers, some wrapped in plastic sheeting. It quoted local administrator Dagemawi Ayele as saying that most of the victims were buried after they went to help local residents hit by a first landslide following heavy rains. He said there needed to be a “solid assessment and scientific investigation” into the cause of the landslide. The deadliest landslide in Africa was in Sierra Leone’s capital in Freetown in August 2017, when 1,141 people perished.

Abdul "Duke" Fakir, the last surviving original member of the beloved Motown group the Four Tops that was known for such hits as "Reach Out, I'll Be There" and "Standing in the Shadows of Love," has died at age 88. Fakir died Monday of heart failure at his home in Detroit, according to a family spokesperson, with his wife and other loved ones by his side. Motown founder Berry Gordy said in a statement that Fakir helped embody the Tops' "showmanship, class and artistry. While the Temptations and other peers suffered from drug problems, dissension and personnel changes, the Four Tops remained united and intact until Payton died in 1997. Fakir later toured as the Four Tops with lead vocalist Alexander Morris, Ronnie McNeir and Lawrence 'Roquel' Payton Jr., the son of Lawrence Payton.

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ADDIS ABABA - The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia has jumped to 229 and could rise further as the search for survivors and casualties continued into a second day, a government official said on Tuesday. A landslide buried people in Gofa zone in Southern Ethiopia regional state on Sunday night, then a second one engulfed others who had gathered to help on Monday morning. We are still recovering bodies," Markos Melese, head of the National Disaster Response agency in Gofa Zone, told Reuters by phone. On Monday an official said at least 50 people had died and children and police officers were among the dead. "The death toll surged after the people who came to rescue also got trapped," said Gofa district administrator Misikir Mitiku.