UN says Ethiopia landslide death toll could reach 500

KENCHO SHACHA GOZDI, Ethiopia 

The death toll from landslides in a remote region of southern Ethiopia has risen to 257, the United Nations said Thursday and the number could soar up to 500.

Rescuers pressed on with the grim search for bodies and survivors in Kencho Shacha Gozdi, with crowds of distraught people digging through mud, often using just their bare hands and shovels.

Solomon Tsoma told AFP that 13 of his family had died, including his uncle's seven children his brother's infants. "We have recovered 12 bodies but haven't been able to find my sister's body," he said.

The U.N. humanitarian agency, OCHA gave the new toll of 257 dead, citing local authorities. "The death toll is expected to rise to up to 500 people," it added.

OCHA said more than 15,000 people need to be evacuated because of the risk of further landslides, including at least 1,320 children under the age of 5 and 5,293 pregnant women or new mothers.

Aid has begun arriving in the isolated area, including four trucks of supplies from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, it said.

The landslide is the deadliest on record in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation which is often battered by climate-related disasters.

Officials said most of the victims were buried when they rushed to help after the first landslide, which followed heavy rains Sunday in the area roughly 480 kilometers (270 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa.

Resident Getachew Geza said he and his son rushed to help after hearing two houses had been buried. "When we got there ...a massive mudslide overwhelmed everyone, including my son."

In one graphic scene shown on social media by the local authority, dozens of men surrounded a pit where human limbs were exposed in the mud.

Other villagers carried bodies on makeshift stretchers while in a nearby tent women wailed as they sat near a row of bodies wrapped in shrouds being prepared for burial.

OCHA said 12 people who sustained injuries had been taken to a local hospital, while at least 125 are displaced. The number of missing is not known.