Death Toll Hits Over 150 In Ethiopia Stampede

October 3, 2016

ethiopia-stampede

By Dipo Olowookere

More than 150 persons have been confirmed dead in a stampede that occurred in Ethiopia over the weekend.

The unfortunate incident occurred during the annual Irreecha religious and cultural celebration in the Bishoftu town in Ethiopia’s Oromia region on Sunday, October 2, 2016.

The incident happed when security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition at a crowd of over a million people celebrating a religious occasion.

Irreecha is an annual holiday for giving thanks, celebrated by the Oromo people, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

However, eyewitnesses say that the total number of deaths on October 2 may exceed 300.

Meanwhile, Freedom House has urged the government of Ethiopia to probe the deadly stampede and bring those involved to book.

The organisation’s message was relayed by the Director for Africa programmes, Vukasin Petrovic, in a statement issued on Monday.

“The government of Ethiopia should allow a truly independent body to investigate the tragedy at Bishoftu as well as security forces’ well-documented record of using excessive force against peaceful gatherings,” Freedom House said.

Dipo Olowookere

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan.

Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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