ADDID ABABA: Makeshift scaffolding set up at a church in Ethiopia collapsed Wednesday, killing at least 22 people and injuring 55, state media said.
The incident occurred at around 7:45 am in the town of Arerti, roughly 70 kilometers (43 miles) east of capital Addis Ababa, when a group was visiting for an annual Virgin Mary festival.
“Many pilgrims were killed or sustained physical injuries,” local official Atnafu Abate told the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), putting the toll at 22 dead and 55 wounded.
Some remained under the rubble, he said, without giving any further details about those trapped or possible rescue efforts.
Some of the more seriously hurt were taken to hospitals in the capital, he added.
Images shared on the ECB’s official Facebook page showed a mess of collapsed wooden poles, with crowds gathering amid the dense debris.
Other pictures appeared to show the outside of the church, where scaffolding had been precariously constructed.
Health and safety regulations are virtually non-existent in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation, and construction accidents are common.
The sprawling country is a mosaic of 80 ethnic groups and among the oldest Christian nations globally.
Its predecessor, the Axumite Empire, declared Christianity the state religion in the fourth century.
22 killed in church scaffolding collapse in Ethiopia: state media
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22 killed in church scaffolding collapse in Ethiopia: state media
- The incident occurred at around 7:45 am in the town of Arerti
- “Many pilgrims were killed or sustained physical injuries,” local official Atnafu Abate told EBC
35 million Nigerians ‘risk hunger after global funding collapse’
- The UN can only aim to deliver $516 million to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people this year, down from 3.6 million in 2025, which in turn was about half the previous year’s level
ABUJA: Nearly 35 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger this year, including 3 million children facing severe malnutrition, the UN said, following the collapse of global aid budgets.
Speaking at the launch of the 2026 humanitarian plan in Abuja, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Malick Fall said the long-dominant, foreign-led aid model in Nigeria is no longer sustainable and that Nigeria’s needs have grown.
Conditions in the conflict-hit northeast are dire, Fall said, with civilians in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states facing rising violence.
BACKGROUND
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Malick Fall said the foreign-led aid model in Nigeria is no longer sustainable and that the country’s needs have grown.
A surge in terror attacks killed more than 4,000 people in the first eight months of 2025, matching the toll for all of 2023, he said.
The UN can only aim to deliver $516 million to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people this year, down from 3.6 million in 2025, which in turn was about half the previous year’s level.
“These are not statistics. These numbers represent lives, futures, and Nigerians,” Fall said.
He also said the UN had no choice but to focus on “the most lifesaving” interventions given the drop in available funding.
Shortfalls last year led the World Food Programme to also warn that millions could go hungry in Nigeria as its resources ran out in December and it was forced to cut support for more than 300,000 children.
Fall said Nigeria was showing growing national ownership of the crisis response in recent months through measures such as local funding for lean-season food support and early-warning action on flooding.
