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Toronto – Ethiopia declared three days of National Mourning in connection with the deadly landslide in Gofa zone of the South Ethiopia region which has claimed over 260 lives so far. There is anticipation that the death toll could rise to 500.
“It is known that The House of People’s Representatives of Ethiopia [the parliament] has been expressing grief in different ways to those who lost their lives in the landslide accident in South Ethiopia, Gofa Zone, Geze district , Kencho Kebele. And now it is expressing condolences to the friends, families and all peoples of our country and has declared a National Mourning Day,” the Ethiopian Parliament said in a statement it released on Friday.
The decision about the National Mourning came a day after countries like France, Russia, the U.K and the United States expressed condolences.
The National Mourning Day is in effect as of today and flags are flying half-mast. It will be in effect across the country, Ethiopian Diplomatic Mission premises, and ships, the statement from the House of People’s Representatives stated.
Images and video clips from the scene of the accident have been circulating on social media among Ethiopians and they appear to be horrifying.
Although there has been a history of landslides in the area (including in recent years), the magnitude of devastation and loss of lives related to this week’s landslide is unprecedented.
The accident happened first on Sunday. When first responders arrived at the scene for a rescue operation in the early mornings of Monday, they were struck by another more devastating wave of landslide. Among the victims on the second wave were security forces and authorities of the local administration.
Government and Humanitarian organizations have been attempting to coordinate emergency humanitarian aid. However, there have been critical voices that the level of response does not match the scale of the devastation. The Disaster Management Commission of the government has been claiming that it has provided emergency aid – food and non-food items.
About 600 residents are said to need immediate emergency assistance. As many as 15,000 residents from the area need to be evacuated.
A statement by OCHA published on Thursday said that government bodies and humanitarian organizations are working on an evacuation plan.
The search effort is still underway and it is entirely dependent on manual labor.
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