MINJAR SHENKORA, Ethiopia (Reuters) -At least 36 people were killed and more than 200 injured at a religious festival in central Ethiopia when wooden scaffolding collapsed underneath them inside a partially constructed church, police and a survivor said.
The temporary wooden structure gave way on Wednesday under the weight of worshippers visiting Arerti St Mary’s Church in Minjar Shenkora Woreda, North Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, local police chief Ahmed Gebeyehu told state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting.
The death toll could rise as some of the injured remained in critical condition, Gebeyehu said.
“What caused the damage was when the scaffolding crumpled. It just crushed the people beneath. Some who were on the peripheries ran outside, but those in the middle perished,” said Tadesse Tesfaye, a survivor.
A day after the incident, victims’ shoes and sandals lay in a pile next to broken masonry and snapped scaffolding poles. The twisted remains of the scaffold remained in place beneath the church’s freshly painted dome.
(Reporting by Kumerra Gemechu; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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