Ethiopia church scaffolding collapse kills 36 during religious festival

Pilgrims were visiting the Menjar Shenkora Arerti Mariam Church to people the yearly Virgin Mary festival.

Makeshift scaffolding acceptable up astatine a religion successful Ethiopia has collapsed, sidesplitting astatine slightest 36 radical and injuring dozens, authorities media reported.

The incidental occurred astatine astir 7:45am [4:45 GMT] connected Wednesday successful the municipality of Arerti, successful the Amhara region, immoderate 70 kilometres (43 miles) eastbound of the capital, Addis Ababa.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Ethiopia inaugurates GERD dam amid downstream tensions with Egypt, Sudan
• list 2 of 3From Haile Selassie to crowdfunding, however Ethiopia’s GERD dam was born
• list 3 of 3Ethiopia opens Nile dam contempt concerns from Egypt and Sudan

A radical of pilgrims were visiting the Menjar Shenkora Arerti Mariam Church to people the yearly Virgin Mary festival erstwhile the scaffolding collapsed.

District constabulary main Ahmed Gebeyehu told authorities media Fana “the fig of dormant has reached 36 and could summation more,” according to the AFP quality agency.

The fig of radical injured remains unclear, but immoderate reports suggest they could beryllium arsenic galore arsenic 200.

Local authoritative Atnafu Abate told the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) that immoderate radical remained nether the rubble but did not supply details connected rescue operations.

Some of the much earnestly wounded were taken to hospitals successful the capital, helium added.

Worshippers basal wrong the Menjar Shenkora Arerti Mariam Church nether operation that collapsed successful Arerti, Amhara portion of bluish Ethiopia, connected Wednesday, October 1, 2025 [Samuel Getachew/AP Photo]

Teshale Tilahun, the section administrator, described the incidental arsenic “a tragic nonaccomplishment for the community”.

Images shared connected the EBC’s authoritative Facebook leafage showed tangled woody poles, with crowds gathering amid the dense debris.

Other pictures appeared to amusement the extracurricular of the church, wherever scaffolding had been precariously constructed.

Health and information regulations are virtually non-existent successful Ethiopia, Africa’s 2nd astir populous nation, and operation accidents are common.