ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Mudslides triggered by heavy rain in a remote part of Ethiopia have killed at least 157 people, many of them as they tried to rescue survivors of an earlier mudslide, local authorities said Tuesday.
Young children and pregnant women were among the victims of the mudslides in the Kencho Shacha Gozdi district of southern Ethiopia, said Dagmawi Ayele, a local administrator.
The death toll rose from 55 late Monday to 157 on Tuesday as search operations continued in the area, said Kassahun Abayneh, head of the Gofa Zone communications office. Gofa Zone is the administrative area where the mudslides occurred.
Most of the victims were buried in a mudslide on Monday morning as rescue workers searched the steep terrain for survivors of another mudslide the previous day.
At least five people have been pulled alive from the mud, Ayele said.
“We are still searching for the missing,” said Melese, director of the disaster response agency in Gofa Zone.