Crocodiles menace Ethiopian flood survivors as death toll climbs to 88
ADDIS ABABA, April 27 (AFP) — Swarms of hungry crocodiles are posing a new threat to some 60,000 villagers displaced by devastating floods in southeastern Ethiopia, where the death toll from the disaster has climbed to 88, an official said Wednesday.
At least two people have been devoured by the carnivorous reptiles in the Godie region of Ethiopia’s remote Somali state 1,380 kilometers (860 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa and survivors in other parts of the region are still clinging to trees in desperate attemptS to avoid being eaten, the official said.
“In East and West Emi, people are still on top of trees waiting to be evacuated because there are crocodiles in the flood waters,” regional disaster prevention chief Abdullahi Mahdi told AFP from the regional capital of Jigiga.
“Crocodiles are hampering efforts in some areas,” he said. “The affected and the rescuers are fighting the flood incident and the crocodiles.”
At least 66 people were killed, 36,000 made homeless and more than 4,000 goats, 2,000 camels and several hundred cattle swept away in 36 villages in the two districts by raging waters from the Wabe Shebell river that burst its banks at the weekend after days of heavy rains, Abdullahi said.
In the Kebri Dahra area, some 1,040 kilometers from Addis Ababa, where 15 villages were submerged, 16 people have been confirmed dead, 900 others displaced and 1,000 domestic animals missing in the floods, he said.
Around Mustahil, 1,480 kilometers from Addis Ababa six people were killed, including the two eaten by crocodiles, several villages completely destroyed, some 20,000 people displaced and 317 head of cattle and 17 donkeys washed away, he said.
Relief supplies began arriving on Tuesday but access to Somali state’s most remote communities, like Mustahil, was still proving difficult, Abdullahi said, adding that 15 villages were still under water in that area.
The flooding, which began on Saturday, followed days of uninterrupted rain in the highlands to the north of the affected area and hit most villages at night, taking sleeping residents by surprise.
Before the flooding the area had been repeatedly hit by drought.