14 Dead, 29 Injured in Tragic Train Crash in Eastern Ethiopia

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

A devastating train accident in eastern Ethiopia early Tuesday has claimed at least 14 lives and left 29 others injured, according to local state media reports.

The collision occurred around 2 a.m. as a passenger train was making its 200-kilometre journey from Dewele, near the Djibouti border, to the city of Dire Dawa. Local officials confirmed the fatalities and said that several passengers sustained both serious and minor injuries.

Dire TV, a state media outlet, reported the tragedy in a Facebook post, noting: “An accident that happened on the Dire Dawa–Dewele line has killed 14 people and caused serious and light injuries to 29 others.” The post did not elaborate on the cause of the crash.

Photos shared by the outlet revealed a grim scene — overturned carriages lying on their sides, some visibly mangled from the impact. Emergency teams were seen working through the wreckage in the early morning hours to assist survivors.

Train accidents are uncommon in Ethiopia, a nation of over 130 million people. However, the country has witnessed one of Africa’s deadliest rail disasters before — in 1985, when more than 400 people were killed and 500 injured after a train travelling from Djibouti to Addis Ababa plunged into a ravine.

Authorities have yet to release the cause of Tuesday’s derailment, but an investigation is underway as Ethiopia mourns yet another heartbreaking chapter in its rail history.