Survivors 'hanging off trees'
2005-04-25 11:06
Addis Ababa - At least 40 people were killed and thousands displaced in southeastern Ethiopia at the weekend when the Wabe Shebell river burst its banks after days of heavy rains, officials said Monday.
"Many are still hanging on to trees for dear life," said Mohammed Adme Abdi, district administrator of West Emi in Ethiopia's Somali state, about 840km from Addis Ababa.
Saturday's flooding, which destroyed a number of villages in one of Ethiopia's remotest regions, came after days of uninterrupted rain in the highlands to the north of the affected area.
The death toll is expected to rise as the river burst its banks at night while many people were sleeping, Abdi said.
Before the flooding the area had been repeatedly hit by drought.
Officials from government agencies, the United Nations and relief organisations were meeting on Monday to plan relief operations.
Their efforts, however, will be complicated by rampant insecurity which makes road travel without a military escort impossible.