Ethiopia declares three days of mourning as toll of mudslide victims increases

A woman cries as hundreds of people gather at the site of a mudslide in the Kencho Shacha Gozdi district, southern Ethiopia, (Isayas Churga/Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department via AP)

Ethiopian officials declared three days of mourning on Friday as diggers continued their search for bodies of mudslide victims in a remote part of the East African country.

Heavy rain triggered deadly slides on Sunday and Monday in Ethiopia’s south, killing at least 257 people, according to the UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA.