Deaths in Ethiopia landslide.Image Credit source: AFP

At least 146 people have died in a landslide in a remote area of ​​Ethiopia due to heavy rains. Local administrator Dagmawy Ayele said that most of the victims of the landslide in Kencho Shacha Gojadi district of southern Ethiopia include small children and pregnant women. 50 women are among the dead.

The two incidents are believed to have occurred on Sunday evening and Monday morning following heavy rain in a remote mountainous area of ​​the Goffa region. Local officials said the search for survivors was “vigorous” but “the death toll could rise further”.

Hundreds of people gathered at the site after the accident and others were seen digging the soil in search of people trapped below. In the video released, a hill can be seen partially collapsing and a large piece of red soil is exposed.

Death due to landslide

Meskir Mitku, the general administrator of the Goffa region, said the casualties included women, children and police officers. Kassahun Abayneh, a government spokesman for the Goffa district, said: “Heavy rain fell on Sunday night and some people died in landslides.

According to media reports, Gofa is part of a state known as Southern Ethiopia, located about 320 km (199 miles) southwest of the capital Addis Ababa.

Floods and landslides wreak havoc

Southern Ethiopia is among the country's regions that have been particularly affected by heavy rains and flooding in recent months, but cases of landslides and flooding have already occurred, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).

In May 2016, at least 50 people were killed in floods and landslides following heavy rains in the southern part of the country. Several factors are believed to be responsible for the floods, but excessive rainfall due to climate change is one of the causes.

In May this year, floods affected more than 19,000 people in several areas. More than a thousand people were displaced. At the same time, in the southern region, at least 32 people were killed after two separate landslides within a week in 2018.