Ethiopia — A landslide claimed the lives of at least 11 people in southern Ethiopia on Monday, not far from the site of a similar disaster last month, the local authority said.
Eleven bodies have been found in the Kawo Koisha district of the Wolaita administrative zone, and search and rescue operations are under way, the Wolaita Zone Government Communication Affairs Department said in a statement on Facebook.
It warned that the death toll was likely to rise.
ALSO READ | Search goes on after Ethiopian landslides kill 229
The area lies to the northeast of the tiny locality of Kencho Shacha Gozdi, also in South Ethiopia regional state, which was hit by mudslides on July 21-22 that killed more than 250 people and affected several thousand more.
A series of landslides have occurred in southern Ethiopia recently as a result of heavy seasonal rains.
About a week after the Kencho Shacha tragedy, six people were killed in the Gishere district in the neighbouring Sidama regional state, local officials said.
In its report on the Kawo Koisha landslide, state-affiliated media outlet Fana Broadcasting Corporate said the South Ethiopia regional authorities had issued a warning about the risk of floods and landslides and urged residents to take precautions.
ALSO READ | 90 undocumented Ethiopian nationals rescued in Joburg trafficking heist
Ethiopia, the second-most populous country in Africa, is highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters.
More than 21 million people, or about 18 percent of its population, rely on humanitarian aid as a result of conflict and climate disasters such as flooding or drought, according to UN figures.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Source: AFP
Picture: Pixabay
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
