At least 14 people have been killed and 29 others injured after a passenger train derailed in eastern Ethiopia, state media reported on Tuesday.
The tragic incident occurred around 2 a.m. as the train was travelling from Dewele, near the Djibouti border, to the city of Dire Dawa , a distance of about 200 kilometres (120 miles).
According to local officials cited by Dire TV, “an accident that happened on the Dire Dawa–Dewele line has killed 14 people and caused serious and light injuries to 29 others.”
Images shared by the outlet showed several carriages overturned and others severely damaged.
Authorities have not yet disclosed the cause of the crash, and rescue efforts were ongoing at the scene.
Train accidents are uncommon in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation, home to roughly 130 million people. However, the country witnessed one of the continent’s deadliest rail disasters in 1985, when a train from Djibouti to Addis Ababa plunged into a ravine, killing over 400 people and injuring 500 others.
