Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage shows a huge protest and a panicked stampede

Fifty-two people were killed and many more injured in Ethiopia's Oromia region during a protest at a religious festival, the government says.

Some died in a stampede after police employed tear gas, rubber bullets and baton charges, witnesses said.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said rioters had caused "pre-planned mayhem" that led people to fall to their deaths in ravines.

He denied reports that the security forces had opened fire.

In a national address on state TV, he praised their "great efforts" to protect the public and blamed "evil forces" for the deaths, vowing to bring to justice those responsible..

Thousands had gathered for the religious festival in Bishoftu, 40km (25 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa.

Some reports said police responded after anti-government protesters threw stones and bottles, but others said demonstrators were entirely peaceful.

An Oromo activist, Jawar Mohamed, was quoted as saying that nearly 300 people had been killed and many more injured. He said troops and a helicopter gunship had opened fire, driving people off a cliff and into a lake.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Security forces said they were responding to protesters throwing bottles and stones

Image copyright Reuters Image caption But many said the demonstrators were protesting peacefully about political and economic marginalisation

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The US had already expressed concern about excessive use of force against protesters before Sunday's violence

There has been a series of deadly clashes in Ethiopia in recent months.

People in the Oromia and Amhara regions have complained about political and economic marginalisation.

The US has expressed concern about what it termed the excessive use of force against protesters.

Crowds at Sunday's Oromo festival, which AP news agency said had attracted two million people, chanted "We need freedom" and "We need justice", witnesses said.

Some participants crossed their wrists above their heads, a gesture that has become a symbol of Oromo protests.

The unrest was sparked last November by a plan to expand the capital into Oromia. This led to fears that farmers from the Oromo ethnic group, the largest in Ethiopia, would be displaced.

The plan was later dropped but protests continued, highlighting issues such as marginalisation and human rights.</s>People extract an injured man from a ditch after a deadly stampede in Bishoftu on October 2, 2016. By Zacharias Abubeker (AFP)

Bishoftu (Ethiopia) (AFP) - Dozens of people were feared dead in Ethiopia after police fired tear gas at protesters during a religious festival on Sunday, triggering a panicked stampede.

Opposition groups said more than 100 people had been killed in the chaos after thousands of people gathered at a sacred lake in the town of Bishoftu near the capital Addis Ababa.

The government said only that there had been "loss of lives" at the Irreecha (thanksgiving) ceremony, in which the Oromo community marks the end of the rainy season.

"The annual Irreecha festival has been disrupted due to a violence created by some groups... Loss of lives has occurred due to a stampede," said a government statement published by state media.

Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, told AFP there had been many fatalities, but there was no independent confirmation.

"Bodies are being collected by the government. But what I hear from people on the ground is that the number of dead is more than one hundred," said Gudina.

Ethiopia is facing its biggest anti-government unrest in a decade and some festival participants had crossed their wrists above their heads, a gesture that has become a symbol of protest by the Oromo community, according to an AFP photographer.

The event quickly degenerated, with protesters throwing stones and bottles and security forces responding with baton charges and tear gas grenades, with some reports of gunfire.

The police action sent people fleeing in panic and at least 50 people fell on top of each other into a ditch.

The AFP photographer said earlier he saw between 15 and 20 bodies that were not moving, some clearly dead.

Police demanded that the photographer leave the scene, where rubber bullets were seen strewn on the ground.

Oromo activists called for "five days of rage" to protest the killings while a strong police presence was visible as the news of the day's events spread.

"This government is a dictatorship, there is no equality or freedom of speech. There is only TPLF. That's why we must protest today," said Mohamed Jafar, referring to the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front.

In 1991 the TPLF, then a rebel group, overthrew Mengistu Haile Mariam's dictatorship and now, as a political party stands accused of monopolising power.

Every year millions of people in the Oromo region mark the Irreecha festival on the shores of Lake Harsadi, which they consider sacred.

The anti-government protests started in the central and western Oromo region in 2015 and spread in recent months to the northern Amhara region.

"For the last 25 years the Oromo people have been marginalised in many things. Today we come together as one to chant for our freedom," said one of the people at the festival, Habte Bulcha.

Together, Oromos and Amharas make up 60 percent of the population of the Horn of Africa nation and have become increasingly vocal in rejecting what they see as the disproportionate power wielded by the northern Tigrean minority in government and the security forces.</s>Dozens of people were crushed to death Sunday in a stampede after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a massive religious festival, witnesses said. The Oromia regional government confirmed the death toll at 52.

“I almost died in that place today,” said one shaken protester who gave his name only as Elias. Mud-covered and shoeless, he said he had been dragged out of a deep ditch that many people fell into as they tried to flee.

The first to fall in had suffocated, he said.

“Many people have managed to get out alive, but I’m sure many more others were down there,” he said. “It is really shocking.”

The stampede occurred in one of the East African country’s most politically sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen months of sometimes deadly demonstrations demanding wider freedoms.

Read more: Ottawa urged to advocate for human rights in Ethiopia

An estimated 2 million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving festival in the town of Bishoftu, southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, when people began chanting slogans against the government, according to witnesses.

The chanting crowds pressed toward a stage where religious leaders were speaking, the witnesses said, and some threw rocks and plastic bottles.

Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, and people tried to flee. Some were crushed in nearby ditches, witnesses said.

In its statement, the Oromia regional government blamed “evil acts masterminded by forces who are irresponsible,” and it denied that the deaths were caused by any actions by security forces.

Mulatu Gemechu of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress told The Associated Press that his sources at hospitals said at least 52 people were dead as of Sunday evening, but he thought the figure would rise.

The protesters were peaceful and did not carry anything to harm police, he said.

Before the stampede, an AP reporter saw small groups of people walking in the crowd and holding up their crossed wrists in a popular gesture of protest.

The reporter also saw police firing tear gas and, later, several injured people.

The crossed-wrists gesture has been used widely as a sign of peaceful resistance and is meant to symbolize being handcuffed by security forces.

It was in the spotlight at the Rio Olympics, when Ethiopian marathoner Feyisa Lilesa, who is from the Oromia region, crossed his wrists while finishing in second place. He hasn’t returned to the country since, saying his life could be in danger.

Ethiopia’s government, a close security ally of the West, has been accused often of silencing dissent, at times blocking Internet access.

The months of anti-government protests and the sometimes harsh government response have raised international concern.

The United States recently spoke out against what it called the excessive use of force against protesters, describing the situation in Ethiopia as “extremely serious.”

On Sunday, many people in Ethiopia turned their Twitter and Facebook profiles to solid black and expressed anger at the government over the deaths.

The regional government declared three days of national mourning.</s>Bishoftu (Ethiopia) (AFP) - Ethiopia was in mourning Monday after more than 50 people died in a stampede triggered when police clashed with protesters, the latest bloody episode in a wave of anger against the authoritarian government.

Authorities have said 52 people were killed in the crush at a religious festival Sunday in the town of Bishoftu, east of Addis Ababa. But a local hospital counted 58 bodies and the opposition believes the death toll could be far higher.

The resort town in the Oromia region, popular among tourists for several volcanic lakes, is reeling after the stampede which has been blamed on police who fired tear gas at a crowd of tens of thousands of anti-government protesters.

Shoes and items of clothing littered the scene of the disaster, and a small group of angry residents were digging for bodies in a deep ditch that claimed many fleeing festival-goers.

"We're digging because people are buried inside the ditch. Fifty-two dead is a lie," said one of the diggers, Dagafa Dame.

Members of the group said they had dug up three corpses on Monday, however it was not clear whether these had been factored into the official death toll.

Members of the country's largest ethnic group, the Oromo, had gathered at a sacred lake in Bishoftu for a religious festival of thanksgiving called Irreecha 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.

A video on social media networks showed one protester clambering onto the stage, grabbing the microphone and shouting "down, down" with the ruling Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF)

Chaos erupted after police charged the protesters and fired tear gas, sending panic through the heaving crowd.

Fedesa Mengesha, a doctor in the town's main hospital, told AFP that his colleagues had registered 58 dead, many bleeding from the mouth and nose.

"I don't know if other bodies were taken somewhere else, or taken by their families," he said, adding that despite reports that security forces had fired live bullets at the crowd, there was no evidence of this.

The regional government said in a statement that 52 people had died in the ensuing stampede.

Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, told AFP he believed there had been many more fatalities than the number officially announced.

"What I hear from people on the ground is that the number of dead is more than 100," said Gudina.

Three days of national mourning were declared on Monday, with the national flag being flown at half-mast in government institutions and regular radio programmes replaced with music.

"If the government hadn't provoked this they would not have to declare three days of mourning. They are responsible. People are angry. Things will get worse," said Baadhada Lami, sitting in a local cafe.

The regional government blamed "irresponsible forces" for the disaster.

Demonstrations against Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's administration began in November 2015 over a government plan to expand the boundaries of Addis Ababa into the Oromia region.

That project was binned, however a brutal crackdown on the protests kindled simmering anger against iron-fisted leaders who largely hail from the northern Tigray region and represent less than 10 percent of the population.

"For the last 25 years the Oromo people have been marginalised in many things. Today we come together as one to chant for our freedom," said one of the people at the festival, Habte Bulcha.

The protests in Oromia later spread to the northern Amhara region, and international rights groups estimate at least 500 demonstrators have been killed and hundreds injured over the past 10 months.

Together, Oromos and Amharas make up 60 percent of the population of Ethiopia.

In 1991 the TPLF (Tigrayan People's Liberation Front), then a rebel group, overthrew dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Now as a political party it stands accused of monopolising power and keeping a stranglehold over the media.

The West has largely avoided direct criticism of the country's rights record because Ethiopia is credited with beating back Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab militants in Somalia.</s>In this image from video, tear gas envelops protesters in background as people march during an annual festival in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, Sunday, Oct.2, 2016, where witnesses report that several dozen people died in a stampede during the religious celebration. According to eyewitness reports, several people at the annual festival in Bishoftu Sunday were crushed to death after police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters chanting anti-government slogans as they pushed toward a stage where leaders were speaking. (AP Photo/Elias Meseret)

BISHOFTU, Ethiopia (AP) -- Dozens of people were crushed to death Sunday in a stampede after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a massive religious festival, witnesses said.

An estimated two million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving event in Bishoftu town southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. The event took place in one of the East African country's most sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen several months of sometimes deadly protests demanding wider freedoms.

Ethiopia's government acknowledged deaths during Sunday's event. Through a spokesman, it blamed "people that prepared to cause trouble." The spokesman's office said many people were taken to hospitals. It did not provide figures for deaths or injuries.

Witnesses said the crush began as protesters chanted anti-government slogans and pushed toward a stage where religious leaders were speaking. Some threw rocks and plastic bottles. Police responded by using tear gas and firing rubber bullets.

People tried to flee, but some were crushed in nearby ditches, witnesses said.

Before the stampede, an Associated Press reporter saw small groups of people walking among the massive crowd and holding up crossed wrists in a popular gesture of anti-government protest. The reporter also saw police firing tear gas and, later, several injured people.

The crossed-wrists gesture has been widely used as a sign of peaceful resistance and is meant to symbolize being handcuffed by security forces. The gesture was in the spotlight at the Rio Olympics, when Ethiopian marathoner Feyisa Lilesa, who is from the Oromia region, crossed his wrists while finishing in second place. He has not returned to the country since, saying his life could be in danger.

Ethiopia's government, a close security ally of the West, is often accused of silencing dissent, at times blocking internet access nationwide.

The months of anti-government protests in several parts of Ethiopia and the sometimes harsh government response have raised international concern. The United States recently spoke out against what it called the excessive use of force against protesters, describing the situation in the country as "extremely serious."</s>"Troublemakers" at the Oromo Irreechaa festival in Bishoftu physically attacked elders who were making their way to the stage to say their blessings for the new year, Reda said.

Police fired warning shots into the air, triggering the stampede at the festival attended by an estimated 2 million people, he said.

However, Ethiopia's opposition party disputed that account, saying that police fired live bullets into the crowd and as many as 120 people were killed.

Merera Gudina, chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress, said the number of casualties was still unknown.

"This goes down as one of the darkest days in modern Oromo history," Gudina told CNN. The Oromo are Ethiopia's largest ethnic group and make up at least a third of the country's 100 million people. But they have been marginalized for decades, with tensions rising recently as the government promoted development that took over Oromo farmland. During the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, athlete Feyisa Lilesa protested against what he said was unfair persecution of the Oromo people by the Ethiopian government. Gudina said the violence broke out after festival attendees refused to listen to speakers from the ruling party. "The ruling party has been trying to control the festival and use it for its own political interests," he said. "The people gathered refused to listen to speeches of the ruling party. In that confrontation the security forces started to shoot and use tear gas and live bullets. That created chaos." What is behind Ethiopia's Oromo protests? Reda vigorously denied the claim, saying the deaths were the result of a stampede. "Of the people's bodies who were collected, they do not have any bullet wounds whatsoever," Reda said. "They were killed in the stampede. The security forces were mostly unarmed and none of them were involved in firing at the people." "There was no force involved on the part of the security forces -- after all, this event was a people's event," he added. Reda blamed diaspora elements for causing the chaos, saying they were trying to "take advantage to promote a political agenda." "We have a diaspora who are trying to drive a wedge in the people in the government who are using all sorts of violent means to achieve it." Gudina said Ethiopians in other parts of Oromia are protesting the deaths, including in Ambo in western Oromia. "The government should negotiate and the government should talk to people. The bullet should not be the answer to people demanding their right," Gudina said.</s>BISHOFTU, Ethiopia (AP) — Several dozen people died in a stampede Sunday morning when a religious celebration in Ethiopia turned into an anti-government protest that led police to fire tear gas and rubber bullets.

An estimated two million people were attending the annual Irrecha event in Bishoftu town southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. The event took place in one of the country’s most sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen several months of sometimes deadly protests demanding wider freedoms.

Ethiopia’s government acknowledged deaths during the event and, though a spokesman, blamed “people that prepared to cause trouble” for the chaos. The spokesman’s office said many people were taken to hospitals, but it did not provide any figures.

Witnesses said police dispersed protesters chanting anti-government slogans as they pushed toward a stage where religious leaders were speaking. Some threw rocks and plastic bottles.

As festival goers fled, some were crushed in nearby ditches.

An Associated Press reporter saw people holding up crossed wrists in a popular gesture of anti-government protest and police firing tear gas. The reporter also saw several injured people.

The months of anti-government protests in several parts of Ethiopia and the sometimes harsh government response has raised international concern. The United States recently spoke out against what it called the excessive use of force against protesters.</s>Scores of people have been reportedly crushed to death in Ethiopia in a stampede after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a religious festival.

There were conflicting death toll reports following Sunday’s stampede in Bishoftu, a town 40km southeast of the capital Addis Ababa.

An AFP news agency photographer at the scene said he saw 15-20 unmoving bodies, some of whom were clearly dead.

An Associated Press news agency report said “several dozens” have died.

“As a result of the chaos, lives were lost and several of the injured were taken to hospital,” the government communications office said in a statement, without giving exact figures.

“Those responsible will face justice.”

An estimated two million people were attending the annual Irrecha event in Bishoftu.

The event took place in one of the country’s most sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen several months of sometimes deadly protests demanding wider freedoms.

Merera Gudina, chairperson of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, told Reuters news agency at least 50 people were killed when people fled after police fired tear gas and shots in the air to disperse anti-government protesters at a crowded religious festival.

The government and opposition often give different accounts for casualties during protests.

Crowds chanted “we need freedom” and “we need justice” and prevented community elders, deemed close to the government, from delivering their speeches at a religious festival, prompting police to fire tear gas that caused the stampede.

Protesters chanted slogans against the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation, one of four regional political parties that make up the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has ruled the nation for quarter of a century.

Sporadic protests have erupted in Oromia region in the last two years, initially sparked by a land row and increasingly turning more broadly against the government.

Ethnic tensions

According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, at least 500 people have been killed by security forces since the demonstrations began in November.

Though protests started among the Oromo – Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group – they later spread to the Amhara, the second-most largest in the country.

Both groups say the ruling coalition is dominated by the Tigray ethnic group, which makes up only about six percent of the population.

Small protests in Oromia province initially flared in 2014 over a development plan for the capital that would have expanded its boundaries, a move seen as threatening the seizure of farmland.

The government has blamed rebel groups and dissidents abroad for stirring up the protests and provoking violence.

The government has denied that violence from the security forces is systemic, though a spokesman has previously told Al Jazeera that police officers “sometimes take the law into their own hands”, pledging an independent investigation.

The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front last month rejected a UN request to send in observers, saying it alone was responsible for the security of its citizens.

The post Ethiopia: ‘Several’ killed in Oromia festival stampede appeared first on African Media Agency.</s>Festival goers flee as police fire teargas into the crowd in Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Sunday, October 2. At least 52 people died during the stampede that followed. An estimated two million people had gathered at a sacred lake to take part in the Irreecha ceremony to mark the Oromo New Year.</s>Dozens of people were crushed to death Sunday in a stampede after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a massive religious festival, witnesses said.

An estimated two million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving event in Bishoftu town southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. The event took place in one of the East African country's most sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen several months of sometimes deadly protests demanding wider freedoms.

Ethiopia's government acknowledged deaths during Sunday's event. Through a spokesman, it blamed "people that prepared to cause trouble." The spokesman's office said many people were taken to hospitals. It did not provide figures for deaths or injuries.

Witnesses said the crush began as protesters chanted anti-government slogans and pushed toward a stage where religious leaders were speaking. Some threw rocks and plastic bottles. Police responded by using tear gas and firing rubber bullets.

People tried to flee, but some were crushed in nearby ditches, witnesses said.

Before the stampede, an Associated Press reporter saw small groups of people walking among the massive crowd and holding up crossed wrists in a popular gesture of anti-government protest. The reporter also saw police firing tear gas and, later, several injured people.

The crossed-wrists gesture has been widely used as a sign of peaceful resistance and is meant to symbolize being handcuffed by security forces. The gesture was in the spotlight at the Rio Olympics, when Ethiopian marathoner Feyisa Lilesa, who is from the Oromia region, crossed his wrists while finishing in second place. He has not returned to the country since, saying his life could be in danger.

Ethiopia's government, a close security ally of the West, is often accused of silencing dissent, at times blocking internet access nationwide.

The months of anti-government protests in several parts of Ethiopia and the sometimes harsh government response have raised international concern. The United States recently spoke out against what it called the excessive use of force against protesters, describing the situation in the country as "extremely serious."
Police allegedly attack Oromo protestors at a religious festival in Bishoftu, Ethiopia causing a stampede which kills dozens of people.