Ethiopia declares three days of mourning after landslide tragedy

Kencho Shacha Gozdi: Ethiopia announced on Friday three days of mourning following a devastating landslide in a southern remote part of the country wh...

Kencho Shacha Gozdi: Ethiopia announced on Friday three days of mourning following a devastating landslide in a southern remote part of the country where more than 250 people lost their lives.

Rescuers are continuing the grim search for bodies in the tiny locality of Kencho Shacha Gozdi, while distraught survivors bury those who perished in the disaster, the deadliest landslide on record in the Horn of Africa nation.

UN humanitarian agency OCHA, citing local authorities, said on Thursday that 257 people have died and warned the toll could reach 500.

"The House of Peoples' Representatives has announced a three-day national mourning for the people who lost their lives in the landslide accident,"

Ethiopia's parliament said, adding that it would start from Saturday.