Search and rescue teams are attempting to save thousands marooned by flash floods in southwest Ethiopia, where relief workers are reporting near-total devastation.
Officials said that, with poor weather continuing to hamper operations, the death toll in the remote Omo river valley would rise above the current figure of 364.
The United Nations said that nearly 75,000 people across the country had been affected by raging waters from heavy rains. It said that nearly 900 people in southern, eastern and northern Ethiopia had been reported dead or missing and up to 8,000 people in 14 villages in the south remained stranded.
“The reports we are getting from the ground say the situation is disastrous,” Fissahe Begashow, of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, said.
Helicopter pilots at Arba Minch, about 500km (300 miles) southwest of Addis Ababa, said they had rescued only a handful of people. (AFP)