Festival stampede in Ethiopia kills 52

BISHOFTU: Ethiopia began three days of mourning on Monday for 52 people killed in a stampede after police clashed with protesters, the latest bloody episode in a

BISHOFTU: Ethiopia began three days of mourning on Monday for 52 people killed in a stampede after police clashed with protesters, the latest bloody episode in a wave of anger against the authoritarian government. Members of the country’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo, had gathered on Sunday in the town of Bishoftu, some 50 km from Addis Ababa for a religious festival to mark the end of the rainy season. However, political grievances took over, with Oromo protesters chanting anti-government slogans and crossing their wrists above their heads, a gesture that has become a symbol of protest against a government considered among the most repressive in Africa.

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