52 Killed In Ethiopia’s Oromia Festival Stampede
MEP: At least fifty-two people have lost their lives and many more injured in a stampede during a protest in Ethiopia’s Oromia region at a religious festival, the government says.
The incident occurred after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the anti-government protest, witnesses said.
There were conflicting reports of the number killed in Sunday’s stampede in Bishoftu, a town 40km southeast of the capital Addis Ababa.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said rioters had caused “pre-planned mayhem” that led people to fall to their deaths in ravines.
“I almost died in that place today,” said one shaken protester who gave his name only as Elias. Mud-covered and shoeless, he said he had been dragged out of a deep ditch that many people fell into as they tried to flee.
The first to fall in had suffocated, he said.
The government communications office said in a statement, “Those responsible will face justice.”
The event took place in one of the country’s most sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen several months of sometimes deadly protests demanding wider freedoms.
An estimated 2 million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving festival when people began chanting slogans against the government, according to witnesses.
