Rescue workers in Ethiopia landslide pull 229 bodies from mud » Capital News

Rescue teams have so far recovered the bodies of 229 people killed in two landslides in southern Ethiopia, a local official told the BBC.

The landslides occurred on Sunday night and Monday morning, after heavy rainfall in a remote mountain area in the Gofa zone.

Local authorities said the search for survivors was continuing “vigorously” but that the “death toll could still rise”.

The footage showed hundreds of people gathered at the scene and others digging into the ground in search of people trapped underneath.

In the background a partially collapsed hill can be seen, exposing a large area of ​​red earth.

Goza zone chief Dagmawi Ayele told the BBC that the dead included both adults and children, while 10 people rescued alive were being treated in hospital.

Heavy rains caused a landslide on Sunday and while police, teachers and residents of nearby villages were frantically conducting search and rescue operations on Monday, a second landslide occurred, burying them too in mud, Mr Dagmawi said.

“We are still digging,” he told the BBC.

According to Markos Melese, head of disaster management at Gofa, 229 bodies have been recovered so far.

Gofa is part of the state of Southern Ethiopia, located approximately 320 km (199 mi) southwest of the capital Addis Ababa.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), southern Ethiopia is one of the areas in the country hit by particularly heavy rainfall and flooding in recent months.

But cases of landslides and flooding go back further. In May 2016, at least 50 people were killed by floods and landslides following heavy rains in the south of the country.

There are many factors that contribute to flooding, but warming of the atmosphere due to climate change increases the likelihood of extreme rainfall.

The Earth has already warmed by about 1.2 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the industrial era, and temperatures will continue to rise unless governments around the world drastically cut emissions.

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