Dozens reportedly killed in stampede at Ethiopia festival

Police in Ethiopia’s Oromia region yesterday fired teargas and warning shots to disperse anti-government protesters at a religious festival, triggering a stampede that the opposition party said killed at least 50 people.

The government did not give a precise death toll from chaotic scenes during the annual festival where some people chanted slogans against the government and waved a rebel group’s flag. But it said “lives were lost” and that several were injured.

Sporadic protests have erupted in Oromia in the past two years, initially sparked by a land row but increasingly turning more broadly against the government. Since late 2015, scores of protesters have been killed in clashes with police.

These developments highlight tensions in the country where the government has delivered stellar economic growth rates but faced criticism from opponents and rights group that it has trampled on political freedoms.

Thousands of people had gathered for the annual Irreecha festival of thanksgiving in the town of Bishoftu, about 40 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa.

Crowds chanted “we need freedom” and “we need justice”, preventing community elders, deemed close to the government, from delivering their speeches at the festival.

Some protesters waved the red, green and yellow flag of the Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group branded a terrorist organisation by the government, witnesses said.

Deep ditch

When police fired teargas and guns into the air, crowds fled and created a stampede, some of them plunging into a deep ditch, witnesses said.

Witnesses said they saw people dragging out a dozen or more victims who showed no obvious sign of life. Half a dozen people, also motionless, were also seen being taken by pick-up truck to a hospital, one witness said.

“As a result of the chaos, lives were lost and several of the injured were taken to hospital,” the government communications office said in a statement, without giving figures. “Those responsible will face justice.”

Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, said at least 50 people were killed and that his group had been talking to families of the victims.

– (Reuters)