Overview

• State media said makeshift wooden scaffolding gave way at about 7:45 a.m. in Arerti, roughly 70 kilometers east of Addis Ababa in the Amhara region.
• District police chief Ahmed Gebeyehu reported 36 confirmed deaths and more than 200 injured receiving treatment at a local hospital.
• Local official Atnafu Abate told the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that some people remained under the debris and that critical cases were sent to hospitals in the capital.
• Images shared by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation showed collapsed poles and crowds gathered around dense rubble at the church site.
• A government message conveyed condolences and urged that safety be prioritized, as background reporting notes weak health and safety oversight and frequent construction accidents in Ethiopia.