Flash flood kills 125 in the south

As many as 125 people were killed and at least 6,000 affected by heavy rains on Sunday night, which forced the Omo river to burst its banks and flood five villages in remote southern Ethiopia, officials said on Tuesday. This brings the number of deaths due to flooding in the country to at least 400 in the past week. Inspector Daniel Gezahegne, head of public relations for the Police Commission in the Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples' Region, said the death toll was expected to increase once the rescue operation was under way. "We are expecting more bodies today since there are still families who are searching for their missing relatives," he said. Rescue efforts, however, had been restricted by very difficult weather conditions, Elias Lasbook, head of the administration council for South Omo Zone, told IRIN on Tuesday. "It is still raining heavily and the evacuation of people by helicopters has been impossible," he said. As of today, he added, more than 300 rescuers from the regional government of the Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples' Region and the Defence Force have been struggling to save the people trapped by the flood. The Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (DPPA) has sent a team to monitor the situation and provide relief assistance to the survivors. "In addition to coordinating the life-saving operation, the agency is giving relief assistance and other necessary support to the flood-affected areas," said Sisay Tadesse, head of public relations for the DPPA. The flood has killed 872 livestock and destroyed large areas of farmland. Heavy rains have caused several of Ethiopia’s rivers to burst their banks, resulting in serious flooding in many areas over the past weeks. dt/sa/mw