Ten people killed by heavy rains

Heavy rains killed 10 people in the Tigray and Amhara states this week, the pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on Wednesday. Among those killed, in East Tigray Zone, were four children aged between three and 15 years, all from the same family. In Amhara State, four people died when their house was destroyed by heavy rains in the Wadla district of North Welo Zone, while two other people were killed by floods in Kobo, according to Walta. Local police reported extensive damage around the sites of the incidents. Local humanitarian sources told IRIN that the main season, Kiremt, rains had been exceptionally heavy in northern, central and western Ethiopia this year causing localised flooding and disrupting access to remote rural areas. As the season reaches its peak in August/September, intense hailstorms also become a feature, threatening crops now nearing maturity, the source said.