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Ethiopian authorities have held funerals for 14 worshippers killed after a landslide struck a mountain monastery during an overnight prayer service in the northern Amhara region.
Rescue operations for people feared trapped under the debris have been stopped after a hillside above the Orthodox Church monastery collapsed in the early hours of Monday.
According to the BBC, the landslide occurred at the Tsadqane Debre Mitmaq St Mary Monastery, where worshippers had gathered for a special prayer session that included a holy water cleansing ritual.
“The land above the cave, slid after the heavy rain that lasted throughout the night,” Dagnachew Azbite, a senior local official, told the BBC.
Seven people were rescued with injuries, including five in serious condition, according to officials.
The monastery’s diocese said many of those killed had travelled to the site to take part in the holy water ritual, which is popular among Orthodox Christians seeking spiritual healing.
“Many of those who died had gathered to receive the holy water,” Megabe Hadis Neka Tibeb Ababu, the diocese’s general manager, told the Associated Press.
Eleven victims have been buried at the monastery, while the remains of others were taken to their hometowns for burial.
Officials said identifying some of the victims remained difficult. Emergency workers, security personnel, healthcare teams and local residents took part in search and rescue efforts before operations were called off.
Archbishop Abune Klementos, head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s North Shewa Diocese, visited the monastery to lead funeral prayers, support injured worshippers and comfort grieving families.
The disaster happened during Ethiopia’s main rainy season, which runs from June to August and often brings deadly landslides.
In March, more than 100 people were killed by floods and landslides in the southern Gamo Zone, while a landslide in Geze Gofa Zone in July 2024 killed more than 229 people, including rescuers.
Experts have warned that climate change is contributing to more frequent and severe weather events in East Africa, including intense rainfall that increases the risk of landslides.
